I remembered a discussion from a while ago on this and went on the hunt.
There are a few people on here who got their applications approved without deducting tax (do a search - not going to paste a bunch of links).
It is clear though, that the policy guidance, now paragraph 94 directly contradicts paragraph 25 (a) of
Appendix A which refers to profit before tax.
If possible, claim both (if you have enough points). Otherwise, if you need to claim for profits before tax, do this and if you are refused, this decision will not be lawful (law supersedes the policy guidance).
Maybe someone else who had success in the past (using self-employed earning
not through a limited company can shed some light on this, although, things also change over the years...
