Mileage Tracker & HMRC Mileage Claim Calculator

Track your miles and see your claim

Enter your business miles for the tax year and choose your vehicle in the tool above. It applies the correct HMRC rate to each portion of your mileage and shows the total you can claim. Keep the figure handy for your Self Assessment return or your employer's expense form.

How the HMRC mileage claim works

HMRC lets you claim a flat amount for every business mile in your own vehicle. This covers fuel, insurance, servicing, repairs, road tax and wear and tear in one simple rate, so you don't have to keep a shoebox of fuel receipts. These are the Approved Mileage Allowance Payment rates, and they're the same across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The rate steps down once you pass 10,000 business miles in the tax year:

• Cars and vans: 55p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles, then 25p per mile. The 55p rate is new for 2026/27, raised from 45p on 6 April 2026, the first increase since 2011.
• Motorcycles: 24p per mile (no step-down).
• Bicycles: 20p per mile.
• Carrying a colleague: an extra 5p per mile per passenger, where the trip is also business for them.

The formula in plain words is:

Mileage claim = (first 10,000 business miles × 55p) + (any miles above 10,000 × 25p)

What you do with that figure depends on how you're paid. If you're self-employed, the total is an allowable expense that reduces your taxable profit - this is HMRC's "simplified expenses" mileage method. If you're an employee and your employer reimburses you at less than the AMAP rate, you claim tax relief on the shortfall (Mileage Allowance Relief). If they pay more than the approved rate, the extra is taxable and should appear on your P11D.

One rule trips people up: business miles do not include your ordinary commute from home to a permanent workplace. They cover travel to temporary sites, client visits, deliveries, supplier runs and journeys between jobs. A sole trader visiting clients, a CIS subcontractor driving between sites, or a carer travelling between appointments all count.

Worked example: a self-employed driver

Priya is a self-employed photographer in the basic-rate band. Over the 2026/27 tax year she logs 12,000 business miles in her own car. Her claim works out as:

• First 10,000 miles × 55p = £5,500
• Remaining 2,000 miles × 25p = £500
• Total mileage deduction = £6,000

That £6,000 comes off her taxable profit. As a basic-rate sole trader she pays 20% income tax plus 6% Class 4 National Insurance on profits in that band, so each £1 of expense saves her 26p. Her £6,000 claim is worth roughly £1,560 in tax and NI saved. Forgetting it would mean handing that to HMRC for no reason.

Worked example: an employee reimbursed below the rate

Tom is a higher-rate employee who drives to client sites. He does 8,000 business miles and his employer reimburses him at 25p a mile. The approved amount he could have received tax-free is 8,000 × 55p = £4,400. His employer actually paid 8,000 × 25p = £2,000. The shortfall is:

• Approved amount: £4,400
• Received from employer: £2,000
• Unclaimed shortfall: £2,400

Tom claims Mileage Allowance Relief on that £2,400. As a higher-rate taxpayer the relief is worth 40% × £2,400 = £960 back. A basic-rate colleague in the same position would get 20% × £2,400 = £480. You claim through your Self Assessment return, or via a P87 form if you don't normally file one. You can also backdate claims for up to four earlier tax years.

HMRC approved mileage rates

These rates are set by HMRC. The car and van rate rose from 45p to 55p for 2026/27, backdated to 6 April 2026 through the Taxation (Energy and Vehicles) Bill. Always confirm the current figures on the official page before you file.

Source: gov.uk - mileage allowance payments. Employees claiming relief can read the rules on gov.uk - tax relief for employees, and there's a plain-English overview at MoneyHelper.

Keeping a mileage log HMRC will accept

You don't submit your log with your return, but HMRC can ask for it, so keep a contemporaneous record. For each business journey note the date, the start and end point, the reason for the trip and the miles covered. A spreadsheet, a notes app or a dedicated mileage app all work - the key is recording trips as you go, not reconstructing a year from memory the night before the 31 January deadline.

If you want to track the wider cost of running your vehicle alongside the relief, compare your real running costs with our cost per mile calculator and check your fuel spend with the fuel cost calculator. To slot the final mileage figure into your tax position, use the self-employed tax calculator or run a deeper allowance breakdown in the mileage allowance calculator.

Mistakes that cost drivers money

• Counting the commute. Home-to-permanent-workplace miles never qualify. Mixing them in inflates your claim and is a red flag if HMRC checks.
• Switching methods mid-vehicle. Once you claim the flat mileage rate for a vehicle, you must stick with it for that vehicle until you change it. You can't claim 55p a mile and also claim fuel, repairs and capital allowances on the same car.
• Forgetting the 10,000-mile step. Every business mile above 10,000 in the year drops to 25p. High-mileage drivers who apply 55p to everything overstate the claim.
• Not claiming employer shortfalls. If your employer pays 25p or 30p a mile, you're likely owed relief on the gap up to 55p - and many employees never claim it.
• Missing passenger payments. The extra 5p a mile per business passenger is genuine and often overlooked.
• No records. A claim you can't evidence is a claim HMRC can deny. Log trips as they happen.

Should you use mileage or actual costs?

The flat rate is simplest and usually fine for ordinary cars. But if you run an expensive or thirsty vehicle, or you bought a van for the business, working out actual running costs plus capital allowances can sometimes beat 55p a mile. The trade-off is far more record-keeping and you lock into one method per vehicle. If you're weighing it up, our capital allowances calculator helps you see what the actual-cost route would give you.

For most sole traders, freelancers and CIS subcontractors, the mileage method wins on simplicity and gives a clean, defensible figure for the return.

These figures are estimates for guidance only and not personal tax or financial advice. Confirm the current rates and rules on gov.uk or speak to a qualified adviser before you file.