Updated November 2026
How much can I claim for mileage?
For your own car or van, the limit for 2026/27 is 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles in the tax year and 25p after that. What that figure turns into depends on who you are: an employee gets tax relief on it, a sole trader deducts it from profit, and a company car driver uses a different scheme.
Work out your mileage claim
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Uses the HMRC approved mileage allowance payment (AMAP) rates for 2026/27: 55p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles, then 25p.
The short answer, by situation
| You are | How much you can claim | What you actually get |
|---|---|---|
| Employee, own car, employer pays nothing | 55p/25p a mile (the approved amount) | Tax relief: your tax rate on that amount |
| Employee, own car, employer pays less than 55p | The approved amount minus what you were paid | Tax relief on the gap (mileage allowance relief) |
| Employee, own car, employer pays 55p or more | Nothing more to claim | Anything above the approved amount is taxable |
| Self-employed (sole trader or partnership) | 55p/25p a mile as simplified expenses, or actual costs | A smaller taxable profit |
| Company car | Actual fuel or electricity paid for business trips, minus any reimbursement | Tax relief on that cost (see advisory fuel rates) |
| Motorbike / bicycle | 24p / 20p a mile, no threshold | As for a car |
Only business journeys count. Driving from home to your permanent workplace is commuting and can't be claimed; a temporary workplace is different.
How much mileage you can claim, in pounds
The approved amount for a car or van in 2026/27, and what it is worth as tax relief for an employee whose employer pays nothing:
| Business miles in the year | Approved amount | Worth at 20% tax | Worth at 40% tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | £550.00 | £110.00 | £220.00 |
| 2,500 | £1,375.00 | £275.00 | £550.00 |
| 5,000 | £2,750.00 | £550.00 | £1,100.00 |
| 10,000 | £5,500.00 | £1,100.00 | £2,200.00 |
| 11,000 | £5,750.00 | £1,150.00 | £2,300.00 |
| 15,000 | £6,750.00 | £1,350.00 | £2,700.00 |
| 20,000 | £8,000.00 | £1,600.00 | £3,200.00 |
The 10,000-mile threshold counts across the whole tax year (6 April to 5 April), and across all your cars and vans together. The 11,000-mile row matches GOV.UK's own example: 10,000 × 55p = £5,500, plus 1,000 × 25p = £250, total £5,750.
Relief can't be more than the tax you paid in the year. If your employer pays something, take it away from the approved amount first; worked examples are on the mileage tax relief page.
If you are self-employed
Sole traders and partnerships with no company partners can use the flat rate instead of working out the actual cost of buying and running the vehicle (insurance, repairs, servicing, fuel). The amount goes into your expenses on your Self Assessment return, so it lowers your profit rather than coming back as a refund. Things GOV.UK says to know before you choose:
- You can't use the flat rate for a vehicle you've already claimed capital allowances on, or included as an expense in your profits.
- Once you use the flat rate for a vehicle, you must keep using it for as long as you use that vehicle in the business.
- Parking and other travel, such as train fares, can be claimed on top.
- Cars designed for commercial use, such as black cabs and dual-control driving school cars, can't use it.
Limited companies can't use simplified expenses. More on the choice in mileage allowance for the self-employed.
What the mileage rate already covers
For your own vehicle, the rate is meant to cover the full cost of owning and running it. GOV.UK says you can't claim separately for fuel, electricity, vehicle tax, MOTs or repairs. Tolls, congestion charges and parking on business trips are separate travel costs and are claimed as such.
Claiming back earlier years
You can claim for the current tax year and the 4 previous ones. For miles before 6 April 2026 the first-10,000-mile rate was 45p, so 5,000 miles in 2025/26 is £2,250.00 rather than £2,750.00. Year-by-year figures are in mileage rates for 2025/26 and earlier.
What you need to back it up
The amount you can claim is only as good as your record of the miles. For an employee claim, HMRC asks for copies of your mileage logs showing the reason for every journey and the postcode of its start and end point. Most people under-claim because trips go unrecorded, not because they get the rate wrong. A mileage log template works if you fill it in every time.
This page sums up GOV.UK guidance. It isn't tax advice.
Stop reconstructing your mileage from memory
Odo logs your drives automatically in the background, you swipe each one business or personal, and it totals your claim at the 2026/27 rates — with a CSV export of every trip: date, reason, distance and the start and end postcodes HMRC asks for in a PAYE claim.