Music licence for playing music in my café — is the cost tax-deductible?
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I have always played background music in my small café in London. We use a playlist during the day, and sometimes the radio in the early morning, because it creates a relaxed atmosphere and customers tend to stay a little longer. Last year I took out a music licence so that we could play recorded music legally in the café, and the annual fee was a few hundred pounds. I also pay a separate monthly amount for a music streaming service, and I recently bought new speakers for the seating area.
My question is whether the licence fee itself is tax-deductible as a normal business expense. It feels like an ordinary running cost, similar to rent, utilities, and insurance, because I cannot legally play music to customers without it. I would like to know whether HMRC treats a licence of this kind as an allowable revenue expense in full, or whether any part of it might be treated differently, for example if the licence also covers something beyond the café itself.
I am also unsure about the related costs. If I claim the licence, can I also claim the streaming subscription, or would that be seen as paying twice for the same thing? What about the speakers: are they a straightforward expense, or should they be treated as capital equipment and claimed through capital allowances instead? I do not want to claim the same cost twice, or to miss a claim I am entitled to make.
Finally, I would welcome advice on records. The licence is invoiced annually and the streaming service is billed monthly, so I need to know how to spread the costs across the right accounting period. I would also like to know whether it matters if I play music only in the customer area, or also in the kitchen, and whether live music at a special event would be treated in the same way as recorded background music.