RealCost Guide
Self-Employed Mileage Allowance UK
If you’re self-employed and use your own car for business, you can usually claim a flat mileage rate instead of working out actual vehicle costs.
This is called the simplified expenses method, and it uses the same HMRC mileage rates as employees claiming from an employer.
Work out your mileage claim
Enter your business miles for the tax year to see what you can deduct from your taxable profit.
Uses HMRC's current Approved Mileage Allowance Payment (AMAP) rates for the 2026/27 tax year onwards: 55p/mile for cars and vans (first 10,000 business miles), 25p/mile after that, 24p/mile flat for motorcycles, 20p/mile flat for bicycles, plus 5p/mile per passenger. This is what you or your employer can pay tax-free — if you're paid less than this by your employer, you can claim Mileage Allowance Relief on the difference from HMRC. Always confirm your specific situation at gov.uk.
Simplified expenses vs actual costs
Self-employed people have a genuine choice here, and it’s worth checking which works out better.
Simplified expenses (mileage rate)
Claim 55p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles, then 25p per mile after that. No need to keep fuel receipts or work out running costs — just a mileage log.
Actual costs
Claim a business-use percentage of your real running costs — fuel, insurance, servicing, repairs and capital allowances on the vehicle. Usually more record-keeping, but can work out higher for expensive-to-run vehicles.
Important: once you choose simplified expenses for a vehicle, you must stick with it for as long as you use that vehicle in the business. You can’t switch back and forth between the two methods for the same car.
Who can use simplified expenses: sole traders and business partnerships (where all partners are individuals) can use simplified expenses for a vehicle. Limited companies cannot — a director using their own car for company business claims mileage allowance in a different way, through the company.