Apologies if this has been asked before or answered somewhere on the site, I've had a good look around and can't seem to find the answer I need.
I have a degree in Graphic Design but due to not exactly fulfilling my potential whilst on the course and having a hunger for education I am toying with the idea of doing another course - a degree in Illustration. I don't want to change my career but I want to be able to offer design and illustration and although I do a bit of illustration for myself I don't get to do any when it comes to my clients.
The course offers an appealing discount for employers and the self employed and they've mentioned handing my VAT receipt for it to my accountant to claim VAT back and potentially other benefits.
Now, I've only been freelancing for a few months, but I'm pretty certain claiming VAT back is only applicable if I was a limited company which isn't relevent to me (and I don't have an accountant at the moment.)
So the question is - can I claim the course back as a valid expense? After investigating a little I've heard that if the course is relevent to what you do then you can, if it's not (e.g. I decided to train as a plumber) I can't. My source of information wasn't too reliable as one piece of advice given was to "claim back everything".
Also, I'm not sure if this would make any difference but since starting to freelance it's not exactly been a whirlwind experience of constant work - I imagine I won't go over my personal allowance and potentially with start up costs plus the cost of a course it could even be a loss (I hope not though, I've got lots of time to turn it around!)...but if I broke even or made a small profit, is there even much point claiming it as an expense if I wasn't going over my personal allowance?
Anyway, the main reason I ask is because I hope that as I continue I will in the next year or two be making a decent profit/wage and will be continuing education - hopefully finishing the Illustration course and finally doing a Masters, so it would be good to find out as much as I can now!
