Work out exactly what HMRC owes you for business miles.
Updated 13/10/2026
From 06/04/2026 the HMRC rate for cars and vans went up from 45p to 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles in the tax year — the first change since 2011. Over 10,000 miles it stays 25p. HMRC announced it on 21/05/2026 and backdated it to the start of the tax year, so plenty of pages still say 45p. Journeys before 06/04/2026 still use 45p.
Source: GOV.UK travel mileage rates (checked 13/10/2026).
If you use your own vehicle for business journeys, HMRC allows you to claim a tax-free mileage allowance. For cars and vans, the rate is 55 pence per mile for the first 10,000 business miles in the tax year (6 April to 5 April), then 25 pence per mile for any miles above 10,000. The 55p rate took effect on 6 April 2026 — the first change since 2011; journeys before that date use the old 45p rate.
Add up all your business miles for the tax year. Multiply the first 10,000 miles by 55p (45p for journeys before 6 April 2026). Multiply any remaining miles by 25p. The total is the amount you can deduct from your taxable income on your self-assessment return (or claim as an expense if you are employed and your employer does not reimburse you the full AMAP rate).
Journeys between your normal workplace and a temporary workplace, client visits, trips to trade counters and builders merchants, and travel between job sites all count. Your regular commute (home to your main workplace) does not count. Keep a log of date, miles, and purpose for each trip.
Instead of a spreadsheet, just text your miles on WhatsApp — "45 miles to Birmingham client". GraftG calculates the HMRC value using the correct rate (including the 10,000-mile threshold), totals by month and tax year, and exports CSV for your self-assessment. From £14/month, 14-day free trial.
Business miles in one tax year, cars and vans. The 2025/26 column shows the same miles at the old 45p rate.
| Miles | Worked out as | 2026/27 | 2025/26 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | 1,000 × 55p | £550.00 | £450.00 | +£100.00 |
| 5,000 | 5,000 × 55p | £2,750.00 | £2,250.00 | +£500.00 |
| 10,000 | 10,000 × 55p | £5,500.00 | £4,500.00 | +£1,000.00 |
| 10,500 | 10,000 × 55p + 500 × 25p | £5,625.00 | £4,625.00 | +£1,000.00 |
| 12,000 | 10,000 × 55p + 2,000 × 25p | £6,000.00 | £5,000.00 | +£1,000.00 |
| 15,000 | 10,000 × 55p + 5,000 × 25p | £6,750.00 | £5,750.00 | +£1,000.00 |
| 20,000 | 10,000 × 55p + 10,000 × 25p | £8,000.00 | £7,000.00 | +£1,000.00 |
Driving 10,500 miles in 2026/27: the first 10,000 at 55p (£5,500.00) plus 500 at 25p (£125.00) = £5,625.00.
| Vehicle | Rate per business mile |
|---|---|
| Cars and vans — first 10,000 miles | 55p |
| Cars and vans — over 10,000 miles | 25p |
| Motorcycles | 24p |
| Bicycles | 20p |
| Passenger payments (employers paying employees who carry colleagues) | 5p |
Source: GOV.UK approved mileage rates 2026/27, checked 13/10/2026. Only the car and van rate changed this year. The 5p passenger rate is part of the employee scheme — it isn’t one of the self-employed simplified expense rates.
If you’re self-employed you choose, per vehicle, between the flat mileage rate (simplified expenses) and claiming a business share of the real running costs — fuel, insurance, repairs, servicing — plus capital allowances on the vehicle itself. The mileage rate needs no fuel receipts and is the simpler choice for most cars.
Two rules catch people out. Once you use the mileage rate for a vehicle you have to stick with it for as long as you use that vehicle in the business. And you can’t switch to the mileage rate for a vehicle you’ve already claimed capital allowances on. Vans that do a lot of work and cost a lot to run can come out better on actual costs and capital allowances — it’s worth a five-minute chat with your accountant before you pick. More on what you can claim in the self-assessment expenses guide.
For every business trip: the date, where you went from and to, the business reason (the customer or job), and the miles. Write it down at the time — a log rebuilt from memory in January is the first thing HMRC questions. Download a free log to print or fill in:
Free to use and share. The PDF prints on A4 landscape with 20 trips per page.
Yes. A trip to buy materials or tools for a job is a business journey, so log it with the date, where you went and why. Trade counter runs are some of the most commonly forgotten business miles.
Not if it is ordinary commuting to a permanent workplace. Most tradies have no fixed workplace and travel to a different customer’s site each day, and those trips to temporary workplaces generally do count. If you have a yard or workshop you go to every day, check the edge cases with your accountant.
Yes. HMRC’s approved mileage rates treat cars and vans the same: 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles in the 2026/27 tax year, then 25p. Motorcycles are 24p and bicycles 20p.
Every business mile up to 10,000 in the tax year is worth 55p, and every mile after that 25p. The count resets on 6 April, so you are back on 55p at the start of each tax year.
In 2026/27, 10,000 miles at 55p is £5,500.00 and the other 500 miles at 25p is £125.00, so £5,625.00 in total. At the old 45p rate the same miles were worth £4,625.00.
No. The flat rate covers fuel, insurance, servicing and wear and tear, so you do not claim those separately. What you do need is the mileage log itself: date, from and to, business reason and miles for each trip.
Not for the same vehicle. Once you use the mileage rate for a vehicle you must keep using it while that vehicle is in the business, and you cannot use it for a vehicle you have already claimed capital allowances on. You can choose differently when you change vehicle.
No. Journeys dated up to 5 April 2026 use the old 45p rate. The 55p rate applies to business miles from 6 April 2026, the start of the 2026/27 tax year.
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