Updated November 2026
HMRC travel expenses for employees
HMRC gives employees tax relief on travel they have to do for their job, not travel to it. The line between the two comes down to one question: is the place you're going a permanent workplace or a temporary one?
Travel and subsistence you can claim
If you have to travel for work and your employer doesn't pay you back in full, GOV.UK says you may be able to claim tax relief on:
- public transport
- hotels, if you have to stay overnight
- food and drink (subsistence)
- congestion charges and tolls
- parking fees
- business phone calls and printing
- business mileage in your own car, van, motorbike or bicycle, at the approved mileage rates
For hotels and meals you send receipts showing the date and the name of the hotel or restaurant. For mileage you send your mileage log. You can claim for the current tax year and the 4 previous ones.
Ordinary commuting: what you can't claim
HMRC defines ordinary commuting as travel between a permanent workplace and your home, or any other place that isn't a workplace. There is no relief for it, even if your employer makes you come in at the weekend or outside your normal hours. Travel to a holiday cottage where you happen to do some work is private travel, so that doesn't count either.
Stopping on the way to make a business call doesn't turn a commute into a business journey. Neither does arranging a meeting on the route just to get relief.
What counts as a temporary workplace
A temporary workplace is somewhere you go only to do a task of limited duration, or for a temporary purpose. It can still be temporary even if you go there regularly. HMRC's examples include a weekly safety check at another site and a fortnightly meeting at a regional office. Each visit is self-contained, so the travel qualifies, including straight from home.
Some jobs have no normal workplace at all. HMRC's example is a service engineer visiting customers all day. For them, travel from home to the first job and from the last job home qualifies too.
The 24-month rule (and the 40% test)
A workplace can't be temporary if you spend 40% or more of your working time there over a period that lasts, or is expected to last, more than 24 months. What matters is the expectation, and it can change part-way through:
| Posting | Can you claim the travel? |
|---|---|
| Sent to another branch full-time for 18 months | Yes, for the whole posting |
| Sent for 28 months from the start | No. It's a permanent workplace from day one, even if the posting ends early |
| Sent for 18 months, extended to 28 after 10 months | Yes for the first 10 months, no from the date it was extended |
| Sent for 28 months, cut to 18 after 10 months | No for the first 10 months, yes for the last 8 |
| Under 40% of your working time there, however long | The 24-month rule doesn't apply: both parts of the test must be met |
These rows follow the worked examples in HMRC's employer guide (490, chapter 3, examples 11 to 15 and paragraph 3.22). If your case is close, check the guide or ask HMRC.
Two jobs
Travel between two separate jobs generally gets no relief. HMRC's example is a shop assistant who goes straight to an evening bar job. There are exceptions for jobs within the same group of companies, which the 490 guide covers.
How to claim travel expenses
If you file Self Assessment, you must claim on your return. If you don't, use HMRC's online claim or the P87 form. For mileage, HMRC asks for the reason for every journey and its start and end postcodes, so a log written up from memory at the end of the year is the weak point of most claims. If your employer already paid you less than the approved rate, you claim the gap as mileage allowance relief.
This page sums up HMRC guidance. It isn't tax advice.
Work out your mileage claim
Every forgotten trip is money left unclaimed. Odo records each drive for you automatically →
Uses the HMRC approved mileage allowance payment (AMAP) rates for 2026/27: 55p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles, then 25p.
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.