Claiming mileage from HMRC: how 55p a mile works
If you use your own car for work, HMRC lets you claim a fixed rate per business mile instead of working out actual running costs. For cars it is 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles in the tax year, and 25p a mile after that. The rate rose from 45p on 6 April 2026, so a claim for 2025/26 or earlier still uses 45p.
Updated 14 October 2026
The rates
Cars and vans: 55p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles in the tax year, 25p per mile for every mile beyond that. It was 45p before 6 April 2026.
Motorcycles: 24p per mile throughout. Bicycles: 20p per mile.
The 10,000-mile threshold resets each tax year, which runs from 6 April to 5 April.
These are the Approved Mileage Allowance Payment rates and they are meant to cover everything: fuel, insurance, servicing, depreciation, road tax. You cannot claim those separately on top.
What counts as a business mile
Travel you have to make to do your job. Visiting a client, driving between two workplaces, going to a temporary site.
What does not count: commuting. The journey between home and your permanent workplace is private travel, however long it is and however early you leave.
A temporary workplace is different, and the distinction matters: somewhere you attend for less than 24 months as part of your job generally counts as business travel, so those miles are claimable.
If your employer already pays you something
You claim the difference. If your employer pays 25p a mile and the approved rate is 55p, you can claim tax relief on the remaining 30p per mile.
If your employer pays more than the approved rate, the excess is taxable and should be reported.
The record HMRC expects
You need to be able to show, for each business journey: the date, the start and end points, the purpose, and the mileage.
HMRC can ask for this, and "about two hundred miles a week" is not an answer. A contemporaneous log, written at the time rather than reconstructed in April, is what stands up.
Keep it for at least 22 months after the end of the tax year if you are employed, and five years after the filing deadline if you are self-employed.
Keeping the record without keeping a notebook
Odomint records each drive automatically as you make it, with the date, the route and the distance, and lets you mark which were for business. It works out the claim at the correct rate, handles the 10,000-mile crossover within the tax year, and exports a CSV with every journey itemised, which is the format an accountant or an HMRC enquiry actually wants.
Journeys you make without the app can be added by hand, with the from and to and the mileage, so the record stays complete.
Common questions
How much can I claim per mile in 2026?
55p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles in the tax year, then 25p per mile. The rate rose from 45p on 6 April 2026, and the threshold resets each 6 April.
Can I claim mileage for commuting to work?
No. Travel between home and a permanent workplace is private travel. Travel to a temporary workplace, or between workplaces during the day, does count.
What records do I need for an HMRC mileage claim?
For each business journey: the date, where you went from and to, the purpose, and the mileage. Records kept at the time are far stronger than figures reconstructed later.
What if my employer pays me less than the approved rate?
You can claim tax relief on the difference between what you were paid and the approved rate.
Check any car before you buy it
MOT history, every advisory and the full mileage record are free for any UK registration. An Odomint Check adds outstanding finance, insurance write-offs, stolen markers and salvage history, with a £10,000 data guarantee.