How much mileage can I claim for my van in 2026-27?

In 2026-27 you can claim 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles in your van and 25p a mile after that. The other choice is the van's actual costs. You pick one method per van.

This page is for self-employed tradespeople, including CIS subcontractors, who drive a van for work. The rules follow GOV.UK as checked on 16 October 2026.

The 2026-27 rates

HMRC's flat mileage rates are part of simplified expenses. GOV.UK says they cover cars, goods vehicles such as vans, and motorcycles.

The flat rate replaces the actual costs of buying and running the van: fuel, insurance, repairs, servicing and the price of the van itself. You can still claim parking and other travel, such as train fares, on top. Simplified expenses are open to sole traders and to partnerships with no companies as partners, but not to limited companies. GOV.UK also says you cannot claim expenses at all if you use the £1,000 trading allowance.

The other choice: actual costs

Instead of the flat rate, you can claim what the van really costs. GOV.UK lists insurance, repairs and servicing, fuel, parking, hire charges, vehicle tax and breakdown cover. If you also use the van privately, you only claim the business share.

You also claim the price of the van. The cash basis is now the standard way for sole traders to work out profit, and under it GOV.UK says a vehicle other than a car is claimed as an allowable expense. If you use traditional accounting, you claim capital allowances instead. GOV.UK says vans are not cars for capital allowances, so you can claim the annual investment allowance on a van, and that allowance is £1 million.

The rules that lock you in

• You cannot use the flat rate for a van you have already claimed capital allowances on, or included as an expense.
• Once you use the flat rate for a van, you must keep using it for as long as that van is used in your business.
• You do not have to use the same method for every vehicle. Each van is its own choice.

So the real decision is made in the first tax return that includes the van, and it lasts for as long as you use that van in your business.

Worked example

A plastering subcontractor on CIS buys a second-hand van for £12,000 in June 2026. It costs £3,500 a year to run. They drive 14,000 business miles a year and use the van 85% for business. They use the cash basis.

Actual costs give the bigger claim in year 1, but the flat rate gives more over 4 years in this case, because the miles are high and the van was cheap. The example assumes 2026-27 rates every year, and rates can change. It also leaves out selling the van. HMRC's manual says that under the cash basis, money from selling a van whose price you claimed counts as business income, cut to the business share. That would narrow the actual-costs total further. Your own figures will differ.

Here is what the flat rate gives at other mileages in 2026-27:

Which miles count

Only business miles count, so private driving is left out automatically. GOV.UK says travel between home and work cannot be claimed. For many subcontractors, though, there is no fixed workplace. HMRC's Business Income Manual says where an itinerant trader's base of operations is their home, and they move between temporary sites (its example is a jobbing builder), travel between home and those sites is allowed. Our guide on claiming travel from home to site explains where the line falls.

What this means for you

The flat rate is simple: log your business miles, multiply by 55p and 25p, and you are done. It tends to suit high mileage and cheaper or older vans. Actual costs tend to suit an expensive van or one that does fewer miles, and they put the biggest claim in the year you buy. Because you cannot switch for the same van, compare both before you file the first return that includes it. Under Making Tax Digital (MTD), GOV.UK says that if you are sure you will use a flat rate, you do not need digital records of the actual costs, but you make an adjustment before finalising your tax for the year. If you are unsure, keep digital records of every cost.

Steps to claim van mileage

1. Start a mileage log today: date, start and end point, the job and the business miles.
2. Keep every van receipt until you have chosen a method for that van.
3. Check whether you have already claimed the van's price. If you have, the flat rate is closed for that van.
4. Work out both methods for the year you bought the van and for the years after, using the tables above.
5. Pick one method, note which, and use it every year while you keep that van.
6. Put a flat-rate claim, or the business share of the running costs, in the car, van and travel expenses box of your tax return, or in your MTD software. Under traditional accounting the van's price goes in the capital allowances part instead.

Use the free MTD check to see when Making Tax Digital starts for you, and the trades section for more guides for subcontractors.