Around one in six now say they have had their teeth whitened and the industry is annually worth an estimated £40mQUESTION: I had surgery to deal with a chronic back problem and also incurred significant costs for cosmetic surgery including teeth straightening/whitening and lip augmentation. ANSWER: In short: this depends on whether the surgery was carried out wholly and exclusively for business reasons, or whether personal motives were also involved. Initially the purpose of the surgery must be explored and what is the motive for the surgery. Should HMRC challenge the expenses claim for cosmetic surgery, the onus will be on you to provide evidence that no private motive exists. You would need firstly to consider whether the expense will be incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the trade.