UK Self-Employed Mileage Allowance: The 45p to 55p Guide for 2026

Short answer: The UK self-employed mileage allowance is a flat per-mile deduction for business driving, claimed under HMRC’s simplified expenses instead of your actual running costs. The rate was 45p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles in a tax year, then 25p above that. From 6 April 2026 (the 2026/27 tax year) the first-10,000-mile rate rose to 55p, while the over-10,000 rate stays at 25p. You claim it on your Self Assessment return and must keep a mileage log.

Many people still search for the “45p mileage rate”, so it is worth being precise. The 45p figure was correct up to and including the 2025/26 tax year. HMRC announced an increase on 21 May 2026, and the new rate of 55p per mile applies from 6 April 2026. If you are completing a return for an earlier year, you use the rate that applied in that year.

What is the self-employed mileage allowance in the UK?

The self-employed mileage allowance is a flat, per-mile figure you can deduct from your business income instead of working out the actual running costs of your vehicle. It is part of what HMRC calls simplified expenses. Instead of adding up fuel, insurance, servicing, repairs, road tax and depreciation, you multiply your business miles by a fixed rate.

Only sole traders and business partnerships can use simplified mileage rates. Limited companies and partnerships with a corporate partner cannot. The allowance is reported through Self Assessment, in the expenses section of the self-employment pages. Registering for that return and meeting its deadlines is a separate job, covered in our Self Assessment guide for the self-employed.

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

The table below shows the HMRC simplified expenses mileage rates. Always confirm the current figure on GOV.UK before you file.

Vehicle	Business miles in the tax year	Rate up to and including 2025/26	Rate from 6 April 2026 (2026/27)
Cars and goods vehicles	First 10,000 miles	45p per mile	55p per mile
Cars and goods vehicles	Over 10,000 miles	25p per mile	25p per mile
Motorcycles	All business miles	24p per mile	24p per mile (verify on GOV.UK)

Source: GOV.UK, Simplified expenses if you’re self-employed: Vehicles, and HMRC, “Increase to Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs) and self-employed simplified mileage rates”.

The 10,000-mile threshold resets each tax year (6 April to 5 April). The same increase applies to Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs), which employers use to reimburse employees, but this guide is about the self-employed.

How do I calculate my mileage allowance? (Worked example)

Suppose you drive 12,000 business miles in a car during the 2026/27 tax year.

• First 10,000 miles × 55p = £5,500
• Next 2,000 miles × 25p = £500
• Total mileage allowance = £6,000

You deduct that £6,000 from your business income as an expense. For the 2025/26 tax year, the same 12,000 miles would have been (10,000 × 45p) + (2,000 × 25p) = £4,500 + £500 = £5,000.

What counts as a business mile?

A business mile is a journey made wholly and exclusively for your business. Commuting from home to a regular, permanent place of work does not count, and neither do private trips.

Journeys that usually count:

• Driving to a client’s premises or a job site
• Travelling between two workplaces
• Visiting a supplier, wholesaler or the bank for business
• Driving to a temporary work location

Journeys that usually do not count:

• Your normal commute
• Personal errands and social trips
• Any private portion of a mixed journey

Simplified expenses vs actual costs: which should I choose?

You have two ways to claim vehicle costs, and you should pick the one that gives the better result for your situation.

Feature	Simplified expenses (flat rate)	Actual costs
What you claim	Fixed pence per mile	Real fuel, insurance, servicing, repairs, tax, plus capital allowances
Record keeping	Mileage log	Full receipts and running-cost records
Best for	Lower-cost or fuel-efficient vehicles, simpler admin	High-cost vehicles or heavy business use
Restriction	Once used for a vehicle, you must keep using it for that vehicle; you can switch only when you replace the vehicle	You cannot also claim the flat mileage rate for the same vehicle

GOV.UK’s free simplified expenses checker compares the two methods on your own numbers. Once you use the flat rate for a particular vehicle, HMRC expects you to keep using it for that vehicle until you change vehicles.

Can I claim parking, tolls and other costs on top of mileage?

Some costs, yes. The flat rate covers the cost of running the vehicle — fuel, insurance, servicing, repairs, road tax and the vehicle’s depreciation — so none of those can be claimed again on top. Costs that are not part of running the vehicle are treated separately:

Cost	On top of the mileage rate?
Business parking	Usually yes, when the trip is a business journey
Tolls and the congestion charge	Usually yes, on business journeys
Parking or speeding fines	No — penalties are never an allowable expense
Fuel and servicing	No — already inside the flat rate
Capital allowances on the vehicle	No — not available if you use the flat rate for that vehicle

The practical consequence is that you still need receipts for the parking and toll charges you claim, even though mileage itself is evidenced by a log rather than by fuel receipts. Photograph the car park ticket at the time; it is the item people most often forget and the easiest to lose.

What records do I need to keep for mileage?

HMRC can ask you to prove your mileage. A defensible log records, for each business journey:

• Date of the trip
• Start and end locations (or route)
• Business purpose (client name, reason)
• Miles driven
• A running total of business miles for the tax year

Self-employed people must keep business records for at least 5 years after the 31 January submission deadline of the relevant tax year, per GOV.UK. Reconstructing a year of trips from memory the night before you file is exactly what HMRC’s checks are designed to catch, so log trips as they happen. The mileage log is only one part of that file; our guide to sole trader bookkeeping sets out what else HMRC expects you to hold for those five years.

Can an app help me log business trips?

Yes. Keeping a contemporaneous log is far easier with a tool than with a paper diary, and the methods for tracking mileage range from a notebook in the glovebox to an always-on GPS tracker. Keel: Invoice Maker & Receipts by Ilura Technology sits at the private end of that range: you log business trips, create invoices and capture receipts, and everything is stored on your iPhone with no account, no login, no bank connection and no cloud. Its App Store privacy label reads “Data Not Collected”.

For a UK sole trader that makes Keel a record-keeper rather than a filing tool. It holds the invoices you send, the receipts you photograph — parking and toll tickets included, read on device by Apple Intelligence — and the trips you log. At year end, the Accountant Pack exports the lot as a single file: a CSV plus a one-page summary PDF to hand to your accountant. The honest tradeoff is that nothing arrives automatically from a bank feed: entries are made by hand or by photographing the receipt. Because the data lives only on your device, keep your iPhone backed up. Applying the HMRC rate and filing the return remain your job, or your accountant’s.

Frequently asked questions

Is the UK self-employed mileage rate 45p or 55p in 2026? It depends which tax year you are filing for. The rate was 45p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles up to and including 2025/26. From 6 April 2026 (the 2026/27 tax year), HMRC increased it to 55p per mile, and the over-10,000-mile rate remains 25p either way. If you are submitting a late or amended return for an earlier year, use the rate that applied in that year rather than today’s figure.

Can I claim mileage and fuel separately? No. The flat mileage rate already includes fuel and every other running cost: insurance, servicing, repairs, road tax and the vehicle’s depreciation. If you claim the simplified rate for a vehicle, you cannot separately claim fuel or capital allowances for that same vehicle. Costs that are not part of running the car, such as business parking and tolls, are claimed on top of the mileage figure.

Do I need receipts for mileage? You need a mileage log rather than fuel receipts when you use simplified expenses. The log must show the date, route, business purpose and miles for each journey, and you should keep it for at least 5 years after the 31 January deadline for that tax year. Do keep receipts for any parking or toll charges you claim separately, because those are ordinary expenses and need ordinary evidence.

Can I claim for my commute? Generally no. Travel between home and a regular, permanent workplace is private commuting, not a business mile. If your home is genuinely your business base, journeys from it to clients or to temporary sites are usually business travel, though HMRC looks closely at this where you also attend one location habitually. On a mixed journey, claim only the business portion of the miles.

Where can I check the current rate? GOV.UK publishes the flat vehicle rates on its simplified expenses page, and HMRC announces changes separately when a rate moves. Rates can be revised at a Budget, so confirm the figure for the tax year you are filing before you submit. Check the motorcycle rate separately if you ride, because it is set independently of the car and goods vehicle rate and does not necessarily change at the same time.

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The bottom line

The mileage allowance is one of the simplest ways for a UK sole trader to claim vehicle costs: multiply business miles by the HMRC rate (55p per mile for the first 10,000 miles from 6 April 2026, previously 45p, then 25p above 10,000). The rules reward good habits, so log every business trip with its date, route and purpose. A private, on-device app like Keel can help you keep that log and your invoices and receipts in one place, on your iPhone. Confirm the current rate on GOV.UK and, for anything involved, ask an accountant.

Try Keel on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/keel-invoice-maker-receipts/id6786659713 (Free with unlimited invoices, receipts and mileage; Keel Pro is a one-time $249.99 Lifetime purchase, not a subscription — see the App Store for local pricing).

This article is general information, not tax advice. Consult a qualified accountant or tax adviser.