Are Gas Safety, EICR and EPC Certificates Tax Deductible?
Every compliance certificate is allowable. The remedial work they trigger — repair or capital — is the real question, including EPC upgrades before 2028.
The short answer
Yes — all of them. Gas Safety (CP12) checks, EICR electrical inspections, EPC assessments, smoke and CO alarm testing, legionella assessments and PAT testing are recurring compliance costs of letting and are deductible in full. Remedial work they trigger is deductible if it is a repair, capital if it is an upgrade.
Landlords in England must have an annual gas safety check, a five-yearly EICR, and a valid EPC to let — and the law is tightening (a minimum EPC C for new tenancies is scheduled for 2028 under the government’s 2025 consultation response, with existing tenancies to follow). The certificates themselves are never in doubt for tax; the work they lead to is where care is needed.
The certificates
| Certificate / check | Treatment |
|---|---|
| Gas Safety Record (CP12) — annual | Allowable |
| EICR — every 5 years (England, since 2020) | Allowable |
| EPC assessment — every 10 years or on re-let | Allowable |
| Legionella risk assessment, PAT testing, alarm servicing | Allowable |
| Boiler service (annual) | Allowable |
| HMO / selective licence fee | Allowable — see our licensing guide |
The remedial work is the real question
An EICR marked “unsatisfactory” forces work within 28 days. Replacing a damaged socket, a faulty consumer-unit part or degraded cabling like-for-like is a repair. A full rewire of a property that was serviceable, or upgrading to a materially higher specification, is normally capital. A consumer unit replaced with a modern RCD-protected equivalent — the only kind now sold — is a repair, on the same PIM2020 logic as a boiler.
EPC improvements
Loft insulation top-ups and draught-proofing are repairs. Installing insulation, double glazing or a heat pump where there was none is an improvement — capital. Some landlords will face these costs before 2028; there is no special income-tax relief for EPC works, and we could not verify any announced scheme that changes this for 2026/27.
Worked example
In 2026/27 a landlord pays: gas check £85, boiler service £95, EICR £220, EPC £70, and £380 of remedial socket and bonding work — £850 total, all revenue.
| Deducting £850 in 2026/27 | Effect |
|---|---|
| Basic-rate landlord (20%) | £170 less tax |
| Higher-rate landlord (40%) | £340 less tax |
| Additional-rate (45%) | £382 less tax |
| From April 2027 (property rates 22/42/47%) | slightly more — the deduction is worth more as rates rise |
What to keep
The invoice describing the work, proof of payment, and — for anything near the repair/improvement line — a sentence in your records saying what was there before. HMRC enquiries into landlord expenses turn on that single fact. Digital copies satisfy MTD’s record-keeping rules.
Where it goes under Making Tax Digital
If you are inside MTD for Income Tax (mandated from April 2026 above £50,000 gross), the cost belongs in your quarterly update under the matching expense category, in the quarter you paid it (cash basis is the default for landlords). Get the category right now — the final declaration only tidies totals, it does not re-classify. Check whether MTD applies to you.
gov.uk landlord gas safety, Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020, EPC minimum standard consultation response (2025) · HMRC PIM2020 for remedial work · rates from our verified 2026/27 dataset. Checked 31 Aug 2026.
Quick answers
Yes. The annual Gas Safety Record is a compliance cost of letting and is deductible in full against rental income, as is the boiler service usually done at the same visit.
Yes — the inspection and report are deductible. Remedial work is a repair (deductible) when it restores existing installations like-for-like, and capital when it is a full rewire or an upgrade.
Only repairs and top-ups (e.g. replacing degraded insulation) are deductible against income. New insulation, double glazing or heating systems are improvements — capital, relieved against CGT on sale.
Box 29 (other allowable property expenses) on the SA105, or 'other' in your MTD category list; many landlords put them under repairs and maintenance, which HMRC does not object to.