Can I claim fuel as a self-employed tradesperson?

Yes. In 2026-27 you claim van or car fuel either as an actual cost, cut for private use, or within the flat mileage rate of 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles, not both.

The rules follow GOV.UK and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) guidance, checked on 17 October 2026.

Two ways to claim fuel for your van

GOV.UK lists fuel among the car, van and travel costs a sole trader can claim. You can claim it in one of two ways, chosen for each vehicle.

HMRC's manual (BIM75005) says you keep the mileage rate while that vehicle stays in the business, and can only change method when it is replaced. You also cannot use the rate for a vehicle you have claimed capital allowances on, or whose price you included as an expense. Our van mileage guide compares the two in full.

Cutting fuel for private use

If you also use the van privately, GOV.UK says you can only claim the business part. The simplest split comes from your mileage log: business miles divided by total miles, applied to the fuel bill.

Only business miles count. GOV.UK says travel between home and work cannot be claimed. HMRC's manual (BIM37620) says that where a trader's base is their home and they move between temporary sites, with a jobbing builder as the example, travel between home and those sites is allowed, though each case depends on its own facts. Our guide on travel from home to site explains where the line falls.

Fuel for plant, generators, mixers and mowers

GOV.UK describes allowable expenses as your business's running costs. In our reading, fuel for a generator, mixer, strimmer or mower you use for work is one of those costs, claimed at what you paid, and not part of the van mileage rate, which GOV.UK says is for cars, goods vehicles and motorcycles.

HMRC's Excise Notice 75 says only "excepted machines" used for qualifying purposes can use red diesel, such as for agriculture, horticulture or forestry. Generators can use it when they mainly power premises not used for commercial purposes. HMRC's impact note on the reform says the right to use red diesel was removed from most sectors from 1 April 2022, and it names construction and plant hire among those switching to white diesel. Tree surgeons are an exception: the notice says generators, woodchippers and stump grinders used for tree work can use red diesel. In our reading, a mixer or generator used for building work generally needs white diesel.

Fuel cards, receipts and charging

GOV.UK says to keep proof of your costs, such as receipts and bank statements, for at least 5 years after the 31 January deadline for that year's return. In our reading, a fuel card statement that lists each fill-up is proof in the same way as a bank statement.

Under Making Tax Digital (MTD), each cost is a digital record with its amount, date and category. For the private share, GOV.UK lets you record just the business part, or the total and the private part, or adjust the category total. If you are sure you will use the mileage rate, you do not need digital records of the van's actual costs.

Charging an electric van works the same way as fuel: a running cost under actual costs, covered by the rate if you use mileage. Our electric van guide has the detail.

If you are VAT-registered, VAT Notice 700/64 gives four options for VAT on business road fuel, including splitting by mileage records or claiming none. Another, for cars used privately, is to claim all the VAT and pay the fuel scale charge, a flat amount set by the car's CO2 emissions, with tables running from 1 May 2026 to 30 April 2027.

A worked example

A plumber drives a diesel van 16,000 miles in 2026-27, of which 12,000 are business miles. Fuel costs £3,200 and other running costs come to £1,800. They also spend £400 on white diesel for a site generator and mixer.

Here the flat rate gives £2,250 more for the year. Actual costs also let you claim the van's price, which the rate already covers. On the cash basis GOV.UK treats a van's price as an expense, while a car's goes through capital allowances even then. Add 75% of a £10,000 van bought this year and actual costs give £11,650 in year 1, then £4,150 a year after, against £6,400 a year on the rate. If you later sell a van whose price you claimed, tax law counts the business share of the sale money as income. Your own figures will differ.

What this means for you

Pick one method for each van. If you use the mileage rate, stop adding diesel for that van to your books, keep the log going, and claim fuel for site kit separately. If you use actual costs, record every fill-up and take off the private share at the year end.

Steps to claim fuel the right way

1. Check which method you used for each van last year, and whether you claimed its price.
2. Start a mileage log: date, journey, purpose and business miles.
3. Keep every fuel receipt or fuel card statement, for the van and for site kit.
4. Work out your private share from the log if you use actual costs.
5. Check your plant runs on white diesel unless Excise Notice 75 allows red.
6. Enter the van claim and the plant fuel in your tax return or MTD software.

The free MTD check shows when Making Tax Digital starts for you, and the trades section has more guides.