HMRC mileage rates explained (2026/27)

Since 2011 the answer to "what’s the mileage rate?" was 45p, and nobody had to look it up. From 6 April 2026 it is 55p. HMRC published the new figure on 21 May 2026 and backdated it to the start of the tax year, so anyone who claimed at 45p in April and May may want to look at those claims again.

Here is what the rates are, who they apply to, and what HMRC wants to see before it believes you drove anywhere at all.

The rates for 2026/27

These are HMRC's approved mileage allowance payment (AMAP) rates for business journeys in your own vehicle.

Before 6 April 2026 the car and van rate was 45p for the first 10,000 miles. The motorcycle, bicycle and 25p rates have not moved. An electrically assisted pedal bike takes the bicycle rate; any other electric bike takes the motorcycle rate.

The 10,000-mile threshold

The 55p rate covers the first 10,000 business miles in a tax year (6 April to 5 April). After that, every further mile in a car or van is 25p. The count resets each April.

HMRC counts your business miles for the year together, even if you use more than one vehicle, so swapping cars in September does not give you a second 10,000. A worked example, at this year's rates:

That £6,000 is the "approved amount": the most your employer can pay you for those miles tax-free.

Passengers

If you carry a colleague on a journey that is also a business journey for them, your employer can pay you an extra 5p per passenger per mile without it being taxed. Two colleagues, 5p each, so 10p a mile on top.

The catch is that this only works if the employer actually pays it. If they pay you less than 5p, or nothing, there is no tax relief to claim on the difference. Passenger payments are a gift your employer may choose to give, not a sum you can recover from HMRC later.

Employees: what happens with what you are paid

If your employer pays exactly the approved rate, there is nothing to report and no tax to pay. Most people stop reading here, which is fine.

If they pay more than the approved amount, the excess goes on a P11D and is taxed as pay.

If they pay less, or nothing at all, you can claim Mileage Allowance Relief from HMRC on the gap. Note that this is relief on tax, not a cheque for the difference: at 20% tax, £100 of unpaid mileage is worth £20 to you. Say your employer pays 40p a mile and you drove 3,000 business miles this year. The approved amount is £1,650, you were paid £1,200, so you can claim relief on £450.

You can claim for the current tax year and the four before it. If you fill in a Self Assessment return, the claim goes on that; otherwise it is made with form P87 or HMRC's online service, for claims up to £2,500.

Sole traders: same numbers, different rules

If you are self-employed, simplified expenses let you use the same flat rates for cars, vans and motorcycles: 55p for the first 10,000 business miles from 2026/27, then 25p. There is no bicycle rate under simplified expenses.

Two conditions are worth knowing before you choose. You cannot use the flat rate for a vehicle you have already claimed capital allowances on. And once you use it for a vehicle, you must keep using it for as long as that vehicle is in the business. Limited companies, and partnerships with a company as a partner, cannot use simplified expenses at all.

Parking and other travel, such as trains, can still be claimed on top.

What records HMRC expects

This is where claims come unstuck. Since 14 October 2024 HMRC has asked for evidence before it processes a PAYE expenses claim, and for mileage that means a log. GOV.UK says it must include:

• the reason for every journey
• the postcode where each journey started
• the postcode where it ended

You will also need the date and the business miles, and, if you have more than one job, a separate log for each employment. If your employer paid anything towards the miles, HMRC wants to know how much.

"Meeting" is not a reason. "Site visit, 14 Mill Lane extension, Leeds" is. The test is whether someone who has never met you could tell from the log why the trip was for work.

Employers repaying mileage tax-free need reasonable evidence too, so the same log usually serves both purposes.

Company cars are a different question

Everything above is about vehicles you own or lease yourself. If you drive a company car, AMAP rates do not apply. You can claim relief on the actual cost of fuel or electricity for business trips, less anything your employer repays, and HMRC will want the receipts and the log.

How ClaimSnappy logs journeys

We built the mileage side of ClaimSnappy around that list. Each journey is saved with its date, reason, start and end postcodes, miles, and vehicle, so the log already holds what HMRC asks for on a P87.

Journeys are priced at the approved rate for their own tax year, so April trips before the 6th stay at 45p and later ones go in at 55p. The app keeps count of your car and van miles for the year and switches to 25p at 10,000. Passenger payments are kept separate from the mileage figure, because only what your employer actually pays counts.

It also flags the usual problems before anyone else sees them: a missing or vague reason, a journey that looks like commuting, a missing postcode, or miles well beyond the route.

At the end of the month, it prepares the claim pack for you to check and send to your employer or accountant. Nothing goes anywhere until you tap Send. If you need the records elsewhere, they export as PDF and CSV, and as import files for Xero, QuickBooks Online and Sage 50.

ClaimSnappy keeps the records. Whether a particular journey qualifies, and what you are entitled to, is still for you, your employer and HMRC to settle. If you are unsure, an accountant is cheaper than a rejected claim.