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Simplified expenses calculator for 2026-27

HMRC’s flat rates let sole traders claim for a van or car, working from home and living at their business premises without splitting every bill. Put in your business miles and your hours at home, and you’ll see what the flat rates come to for the tax year. Fill in only the parts that apply to you.

The flat rates

Vehicle2025-262026-27
Cars and vans, first 10,000 business miles45p a mile55p a mile
Cars and vans, after 10,000 miles25p a mile25p a mile
Motorcycles24p a mile24p a mile
Business hours at home in a monthFlat rate for that month
25 to 50 hours£10
51 to 100 hours£18
101 hours or more£26
People living at the premisesTaken off for private use, a month
1£350
2£500
3 or more£650

Worked examples (2026-27)

ExampleVehiclesWorking from homePremisesFlat rates in all
Electrician in a van, books done at home £6,500£144£0 £6,644
Gardener with a van and a motorbike £4,760£120£0 £4,880
Couple running a B&B they live in £0£0£9,000 £9,000

Electrician: 14,000 van miles; 30 hours a month at home for 9 months and 60 in the 3 busiest. Gardener: 8,000 van miles, 1,500 on a motorbike, 26 hours a month at home. B&B: £15,000 of premises costs, two people living there all year.

How the calculator works

  1. Car and van miles are added together. The first 10,000 get the higher rate and the rest the lower rate. Motorcycle miles get their own rate.
  2. Each month at home gets the flat rate for its hours; a month under 25 hours gets nothing.
  3. For premises you live in, the private-use amount for each month, by the number of people living there, is taken off your total premises costs. What is left is the business expense, never less than nothing.
  4. The three are added up. This is what goes in your accounts instead of the actual costs they replace; it isn’t tax saved.

To see what these expenses do to your tax bill, put your profit after them into the self-employed tax calculator. For more on each, see simplified expenses, mileage for your van and working from home.

Questions people ask

What is the mileage rate for the self-employed in 2026-27?

For 2026-27, 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles in a car or van, then 25p a mile; motorcycles 24p a mile. The flat rate replaces the actual costs of buying and running the vehicle, such as fuel, insurance, repairs and servicing. Parking and other travel such as train fares can be claimed on top.

Is the 10,000 miles per vehicle?

No. The higher mileage rate for cars and goods vehicles applies to the first 10,000 business miles in the period across all the business's cars and vans on the flat rate together, not 10,000 per vehicle; miles as a passenger do not count. Motorcycles have one rate for every mile.

What is the working from home allowance for the self-employed?

A flat amount for each month you do at least 25 hours of business work at home: £10 for 25 to 50 hours, £18 for 51 to 100 hours, £26 for 101 hours or more. It covers the business share of heating, lighting and power. Phone and internet are not included, so you can claim their business share on top, worked out from the actual bills.

Who can use simplified expenses?

Simplified expenses can be used by sole traders and business partnerships that have no companies as partners, not by limited companies or partnerships involving a limited company. They are optional; all other expenses are worked out as actual costs.

Can I switch between the flat rate and actual costs for my van?

GOV.UK says you cannot claim simplified expenses for a vehicle you've already claimed capital allowances for or included as an expense, that you do not have to use flat rates for all vehicles, and that once you use the flat rates for a vehicle you must continue as long as you use it for your business (checked 17 October 2026).

Are simplified expenses always better?

Not always. They are simpler, but for a costly van or a large share of your home used for work, the actual costs can give more. GOV.UK has a simplified expenses checker that compares the two. This calculator only works out the flat rate amounts.

What doesn’t this calculator include?

Comparing the flat rates with your actual costs, phone and internet bills, other business costs, limited companies and partnerships with a company as a partner, and vehicles you have already claimed capital allowances for or put through as an expense, and cars built for commercial use such as black cabs, hackney carriages and dual-control driving instructors’ cars, which cannot use the flat rate. For premises you live in, mortgage interest, council tax and business rates are outside the flat rate and their business share is worked out separately. Any of these can change what you claim.

This is an estimate based on the figures you entered and the rules for 2026-27. Your actual figure may differ.

What happens next

  1. Keep a record of your business miles and your hours at home through the year: HMRC can ask for it.
  2. Before you choose the flat rate for a vehicle, compare it with your actual costs: once you use it for a vehicle you keep it for that vehicle.
  3. Or join the Trades Tax waitlist: your books kept from your bank statements, and you confirm every figure before it goes to HMRC.

Sources