Self employed travel expenses: what sole traders can claim

Self employed travel expenses are the costs of getting yourself (and sometimes your tools) to where the work actually happens. If you are a sole trader or a partner in a business partnership, you can deduct qualifying travel from taxable profit: fuel or mileage, parking, train and bus fares, taxis, hotel rooms, and reasonable meals on overnight business trips. You cannot deduct ordinary commuting between home and your normal place of work, fines, or private journeys.

That is the short version. The rest is the line between a client visit and a commute, and how you price the miles.

What counts as a business journey

GOV.UK lists the travel costs you can usually claim when they are for the business:

• vehicle insurance, repairs, servicing, fuel, parking, hire charges, vehicle tax and breakdown cover
• train, bus, tram, air and taxi fares
• hotel rooms and meals on overnight business trips

You cannot claim non-business driving, penalty charges, or travel between home and work. That last one is where most people go wrong, and HMRC's manuals spend more words on it than on the rates.

The legal test for unincorporated businesses is "wholly and exclusively" for the trade (s34 ITTOIA 2005). A journey that is partly about living somewhere and partly about working fails that test, even if you also do paperwork at home. Keeping tools or records at home does not turn the house into the place of work for a shopkeeper, a barrister with chambers, or anyone else with a fixed base.

Home to work versus sites

An itinerant trade has no fixed place of business: you move between temporary jobs (a jobbing builder, chimney sweep or mobile hairdresser). HMRC's BIM37620 allows travel between home and those sites in the normal case. Live outside your operating area — the classic example is a commercial traveller in London whose patch is Cornwall — and the cost of getting into the territory can still fail.

Employees use a different framework of permanent and temporary workplaces. That 24-month test does not rewrite the sole-trader rule above.

Mileage or actual costs

For cars, vans and motorcycles you choose one of two methods.

Simplified expenses (flat mileage rates) replace buying and running costs with a rate per business mile. For the 2026/27 tax year GOV.UK sets:

Worked example from GOV.UK: 11,000 business miles → (10,000 × 55p) + (1,000 × 25p) = £5,750.

Once you use the flat rate for a vehicle, you stick with it for as long as that vehicle stays in the business. You cannot claim capital allowances or actual running costs for the same vehicle. Parking, tolls and congestion charges on business journeys sit on top of the mileage figure; the rate already covers fuel, insurance, servicing and depreciation.

Actual costs means claiming the business share of fuel, insurance, repairs, servicing, vehicle tax, breakdown cover and (where the accounting basis allows) capital allowances. You need a fair split between business and private use.

From 6 April 2027, Budget 2026 raises the over-10,000-mile simplified rate from 25p to 35p. Until then, use 25p beyond 10,000 miles in 2026/27. Full tables are in HMRC mileage rates explained.

Public transport and other travel costs

Train, bus, tram, air and taxi fares for business journeys are allowable expenses in the ordinary way. You do not have to use simplified expenses for them; those flat rates are only for vehicles. Keep the ticket or booking confirmation with the date, route and reason.

Hire cars used for business follow the same wholly-and-exclusively test. Fines and penalty charges never qualify, however business-like the journey felt before the camera flashed.

Overnight stays and meals

Day-to-day lunches are not a business expense just because you ate them between jobs. HMRC's BIM47705 allows food and drink on a business journey only in limited cases: itinerant trades, or occasional journeys outside your normal pattern, where the travel itself is deductible. Overnight hotels and reasonable meals on a trip that needs nights away are deductible, whether or not the meals share the hotel bill.

Employer benchmark meal allowances (£5 / £10 / £25) are an employee payroll tool, not a sole-trader scale. See subsistence allowance and allowable expenses for sole traders.

Records HMRC expects

You must keep records of all business expenses, with proof such as receipts, bank statements and invoices. Paper, digital photos or bookkeeping software are all fine if the records are accurate and readable. Keep them for at least 5 years after the 31 January filing deadline for that tax year. See how long to keep receipts.

For mileage claims under simplified expenses, HMRC's manuals expect a contemporaneous record of business miles. A log that shows date, from, to, business reason and miles will stand up better than a reconstruction in January. HMRC mileage log requirements sets out the fields. An expenses form (or a simple schedule with the same columns) is a practical place to park the non-mileage travel lines for Self Assessment.

You cannot claim expenses at all if you use the £1,000 trading allowance instead. It is one or the other.

Frequently asked questions

Can self employed people claim travel expenses from home to work?

Usually no. GOV.UK says you cannot claim travel between home and work. HMRC treats that journey as having a private purpose: living away from your place of work. Itinerant traders whose trade has no fixed base are the main exception.

What is the self employed travel expenses rate per mile?

For 2026/27, simplified expenses are 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles in a car or van, then 25p, and 24p for motorcycles. From 6 April 2027 the rate after 10,000 miles rises to 35p. You can claim actual costs instead if you prefer and keep proper records.

Are self employed mileage expenses the same as employee AMAPs?

The pence-per-mile figures match for cars, vans and motorcycles, but the schemes differ. Employees claim Approved Mileage Allowance Payments or Mileage Allowance Relief. Sole traders deduct simplified expenses (or actual costs) when working out taxable profit. Parking and tolls sit outside both mileage figures.

Can I claim self employed transport expenses for trains and taxis?

Yes, when the journey is for the business. Keep the ticket or receipt. Ordinary commuting still fails.

What about overnight hotels and meals?

Hotels and reasonable overnight subsistence on a necessary business trip are allowable. Everyday lunches at your normal place of work are not. See the subsistence guide linked above for the detail.

Where ClaimSnappy fits

Self-employed travel only works as a deduction if the miles and tickets are logged when they happen. On ClaimSnappy you capture trips and receipts as you go, then build a claim for the date range you choose. Each claim downloads as a PDF and CSV with the receipt photos attached, which is enough for your own records or to hand to an accountant. Accountants join free in the accountant portal and can make import files for Xero, QuickBooks Online or Sage 50 there.

Every account starts with a 30-day trial, no card needed. After that Solo is £5 a month for one person. Compare plans, or start from the personal desk if you work for yourself.

ClaimSnappy keeps the records; it does not decide what HMRC will allow. If a journey looks borderline, ask your accountant before you put it on the return.