How much can you claim for
business mileage?

What counts as a business mile?

A business mile is any journey made wholly and exclusively for business purposes. This includes trips to clients, suppliers, business meetings, temporary workplaces, and training courses directly related to your trade. If you work from home as your main place of business, journeys to client sites, co-working spaces, or a temporary office all qualify as business miles.

Your regular commute from home to a permanent workplace does not count – this is personal travel regardless of how far you drive. However, if you travel from your permanent workplace to a client site, that journey is a business mile. The distinction matters: incorrectly claiming commuting miles is one of the most common HMRC audit triggers for self-employed individuals.

How to calculate your mileage claim and tax saving

Your mileage claim is straightforward: multiply your business miles by the relevant HMRC rate. If you drive fewer than 10,000 business miles in the tax year, the entire claim is at 55p per mile for cars and vans in 2026/27 (45p a mile up to 5 April 2026). Once you exceed 10,000 miles, only the additional miles are at 25p.

Worked example: A sole trader drives 8,000 business miles in 2026/27 using their own car. The claim is 8,000 x 55p = £4,400. As a basic-rate (20%) taxpayer, this reduces their tax bill by £880. A higher-rate (40%) taxpayer saves £1,760 from the same mileage. On top of that, Class 4 NI savings of 6% or 2% apply, adding a further £264 or £88 respectively.

How to claim mileage – sole traders, employees, and directors

Sole traders claim mileage as an allowable expense on the Self Assessment tax return (form SA103). You can use either the simplified mileage method (HMRC approved rates) or claim actual vehicle costs (fuel, insurance, servicing, depreciation) pro-rated for business use. Once you choose the simplified method for a vehicle, you must continue using it for that vehicle for as long as you use it in your business.

Employees who use their own vehicle for business can claim Mileage Allowance Relief if their employer pays less than the approved rate (or nothing at all). The claim is made via form P87 (for claims under £2,500) or a Self Assessment return (for larger claims). The relief covers the difference between the approved rate and what your employer actually pays.

Company directors who use a personal vehicle for business trips can be reimbursed by their company at up to the approved rate without triggering a benefit-in-kind charge. If the company pays more than the approved rate, the excess is taxable. If it pays less, the director can claim relief on the shortfall.

Common mistakes with mileage claims

HMRC scrutinises mileage claims carefully, especially for sole traders with high annual mileage. These are the five most common errors that trigger enquiries and disallowed claims.

Claiming for commuting miles. Travel between your home and a permanent workplace is not a business mile – it is commuting. Only journeys from your home or permanent workplace to a client, supplier, or temporary place of work qualify.

Forgetting the threshold reset on 6 April. The 10,000-mile threshold resets each tax year on 6 April. Miles above 10,000 in one year are not carried over – the rate always returns to the full rate (55p from 2026/27) at the start of each new tax year.

Claiming actual costs instead of MAPs when using a personal vehicle. Sole traders can choose between claiming actual costs (fuel, servicing, insurance) pro-rated for business use, or claiming mileage allowance at HMRC rates. Once you choose MAPs, you cannot also claim actual costs for the same vehicle in the same year.

Not keeping a contemporaneous mileage log. HMRC expects records to be kept at the time of the journey – not reconstructed later. A log with date, destination, business purpose, and miles driven is required. Estimating mileage retrospectively is an audit risk.

Adding a passenger supplement to a sole trader claim. The extra 5p per mile per passenger is an approved mileage payment an employer can make to an employee. It is not part of the simplified expenses flat rate, so a sole trader claiming business mileage cannot add it, even when carrying an apprentice or second worker.

Claiming deadlines – Self Assessment and PAYE employees

Sole traders claim mileage on their Self Assessment return, due by 31 January following the end of the tax year. For 2026/27, the deadline is 31 January 2028 for online returns (31 October 2027 for paper returns). Late filing triggers an automatic £100 penalty.

Employees claiming Mileage Allowance Relief via form P87 can submit claims for up to four previous tax years. This means you can still claim for 2022/23 until 5 April 2027. If you have unclaimed mileage from previous years, act before the deadline passes. Claims above £2,500 must be made through a Self Assessment return.

From April 2026, Making Tax Digital requires sole traders with income above £50,000 to submit quarterly digital updates to HMRC. Mileage claims should be included in each quarterly update rather than accumulated for the annual return. TapTax can track your mileage automatically and include it in your MTD submissions.