Can you claim Stripe and PayPal transaction fees as business expenses?

Yes—if you mean for tax/business accounting purposes, Stripe and PayPal transaction fees are generally claimable as business expenses when they relate to income you earned through your business or self-employment.

How to handle them:

• Record the gross sale amount as income.
• Record the Stripe/PayPal processing fee as an expense, often categorized as “merchant fees,” “payment processing fees,” “bank charges,” or “selling fees.”
• Keep reports or statements from Stripe/PayPal showing the fees.
• If the platform pays you net of fees, don’t only record the net deposit as income unless your bookkeeping system separately accounts for the fee.

Example: If a customer pays $100 and Stripe takes $3, you would typically record $100 income and $3 processing-fee expense.

Important: The exact tax treatment depends on your country, business structure, and whether the fees relate to taxable business income. If the fees were for personal transactions, they usually are not deductible.