If you drive your own car, van or motorbike for business, HMRC lets you claim a flat rate per mile instead of tracking every fuel receipt and MOT bill. These are the approved mileage allowance payments (AMAP), and the 2026 rates are unchanged from previous years.
The 2026 HMRC mileage rates
| Vehicle | First 10,000 miles | Over 10,000 miles |
|---|---|---|
| Car / van | 45p per mile | 25p per mile |
| Motorbike | 24p per mile | 24p per mile |
| Bicycle | 20p per mile | 20p per mile |
You can also claim an extra 5p per mile for each passenger you carry on the same business trip (employees only — sole traders can't claim the passenger rate).
How the rates work in practice
The rates are designed to cover fuel, insurance, MOT, road tax, servicing, depreciation and repairs — everything. That's why the rate drops after 10,000 miles: HMRC assumes the fixed costs of the car are already covered.
Worked example. You drive 12,000 business miles in the year:
- First 10,000 miles × 45p = £4,500
- Next 2,000 miles × 25p = £500
- Total claim = £5,000
Who can claim what
Sole traders
You can either claim the flat mileage rate (called simplified expenses) OR you can claim actual running costs — but not both, and once you've chosen a method for a vehicle you have to stick with it until you replace the vehicle.
Limited company directors and employees
If you use your own car for work, your company can reimburse you tax-free up to the AMAP rates. Anything above is a taxable benefit; anything below can be claimed back from HMRC as Mileage Allowance Relief on your Self Assessment.
What HMRC wants to see if you're investigated
HMRC doesn't want your fuel receipts for a mileage claim, but it does expect a mileage log showing, per trip:
- Date of the journey
- Start and end locations
- Business purpose (who you saw, why)
- Miles driven
Rebuilding this at year end from memory rarely stands up to scrutiny. LedgeIt's GPS mileage tracker records each of these fields as you drive and lets you tag journeys as business or personal on the spot.
What you can't claim on top of mileage
The 45p/25p rate already covers fuel, insurance, MOT, tax, servicing and depreciation, so you can't also claim those separately. You can still claim, on top of the mileage rate:
- Parking fees (except fines)
- Congestion charge / ULEZ
- Business-only tolls
Keep those receipts alongside your mileage log — under MTD they'll need to be digital records anyway.