What are HMRC's approved mileage rates for 2026-27?

HMRC's approved mileage rates for 2026-27 are 55p a mile for cars and vans for the first 10,000 business miles in the tax year, then 25p a mile. Motorcycles are 24p. A self-employed trade can use the same flat rates.

The 55p rate started on 6 April 2026. Before that it was 45p for the first 10,000 miles, and many websites still show the old figure. The rates below follow GOV.UK as checked on 19 October 2026.

The rates

The 10,000 miles count across the whole tax year, from 6 April to 5 April, and across all your cars and vans on the flat rate together, not 10,000 for each vehicle.

Two uses of the same figures

• Self-employed, using your own vehicle. As a sole trader, or in a partnership with no company partners, you can claim the flat rate for business miles in a car, van or motorcycle instead of the actual costs of running it. GOV.UK calls these simplified expenses. They do not list a bicycle rate, and they cannot be used for cars designed for commercial use, such as black cabs or dual-control driving instructor cars.
• Employees using their own vehicle. These are the approved mileage allowance rates. An employer can pay up to them for business journeys without tax or reporting to HMRC. If you take on an employee who uses their own car for your jobs, these are the most you can pay them tax-free. An employer can also pay up to 5p a mile per passenger, tax-free, for carrying a fellow employee in a car or van when the trip is work for them too.

Working out a claim

GOV.UK's example: 11,000 business miles in a year is 10,000 miles at 55p (£5,500) plus 1,000 miles at 25p (£250), so £5,750 in total.

The flat rate covers the cost of buying and running the vehicle, including fuel, insurance, repairs and servicing, so you cannot claim those as well. Parking, and travel such as train fares, can go on top. Once you use the flat rate for a vehicle, you must keep using it for as long as you use that vehicle for your business. You can choose differently for each vehicle.

Business miles are journeys for your work, such as to a customer's job or to a builders' merchant. GOV.UK says you cannot claim for travel between home and work, so ordinary trips to a regular yard or workshop don't count. If you work from home and go out to different customers' sites, those trips normally do. Keep a record of each business journey: the date, where you went, why and how many miles. Our guide to mileage for a van covers choosing between the flat rate and actual costs.

What this means for you

If you use your own car or van for jobs and claim mileage, use 55p for business miles from 6 April 2026 and 45p for miles before then. For 2026-27 that is 10p more a mile than last year for your first 10,000 miles, which is up to £1,000 more in expenses. If you already claim actual costs or capital allowances on the vehicle, you cannot switch that vehicle to the flat rate. Limited companies cannot use simplified expenses; if you trade through a company, it can pay you these rates as an employee instead.

This is general information to help you understand the rules. It isn't tailored to your circumstances, so check your own position before acting on it.

Steps

1. Check how you claimed for each vehicle last year: flat rate, or actual costs and capital allowances.
2. Keep a mileage log of every business journey from 6 April 2026.
3. At the end of the tax year, add up business miles for each vehicle.
4. Claim 55p a mile for the first 10,000 and 25p after that for cars and vans, or 24p for motorcycles. Our free simplified expenses calculator works it out.
5. Claim parking and other travel such as train fares on top, but not fuel or running costs.

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