The 45p a mile rate is one of the best tax breaks self-employed people ignore. Here is what it covers, when it changes, and how to actually claim it.
20 April 2026 · 5 min read
Every business mile you drive is worth money off your tax bill — 45p of allowable expense per mile, no receipts needed. Yet most sole traders claim a fraction of their real mileage, because logging it is the job nobody does. This guide covers the rates, the rules, and the painless way to keep the log.
For cars and vans, HMRC's simplified mileage rate is 45p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles in a tax year, and 25p per mile after that. Motorcycles are 24p flat. The rate is designed to cover fuel, insurance, servicing, wear and tear — everything. You claim the mileage instead of claiming actual vehicle costs, not on top.
Trips to jobs, quotes and site visits, wholesaler runs, trips between jobs — all business. Your ordinary commute from home to a single fixed workplace is not, but for most tradespeople whose "workplace" changes weekly, the bulk of driving qualifies. When in doubt, log it with a note and decide at year-end.
HMRC can ask for evidence that your claimed miles are real. A contemporaneous log — date, distance, purpose — is the gold standard. A number invented in January is the opposite. The problem has never been the rule; it is that nobody maintains a spreadsheet from a van.
GraftG turns the log into a text: message "38 miles to the Hartley job" to your GraftG number and it is recorded with the date, the HMRC value calculated, and a monthly total on demand — text MILES REPORT for the breakdown. There is a full guide in how to track mileage when self-employed. Mileage logging is included in the Solo plan at £14/month, first month free.
Yes — 45p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles in the tax year, then 25p per mile after that, for cars and vans. The rate has been unchanged for years; always sanity-check GOV.UK at year-end.
No — the mileage rate replaces actual vehicle costs. You choose one method per vehicle: simplified mileage (45p/25p) or actual costs with receipts. Most sole traders find mileage simpler and often more generous.
A log kept at the time: date, journey, business purpose and distance. A WhatsApp message logged per trip through GraftG satisfies this neatly — every entry is dated and written down the moment it happened.
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