Can I claim mileage as a sole trader?
Yes, for business miles. Either HMRC's flat rate per mile or the business share of what the vehicle actually costs, chosen once per vehicle. Here are the 2026-27 rates, which journeys count, and what never does.
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Two ways to claim your vehicle
HMRC's flat mileage rates
A fixed amount for every business mile: 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles in the tax year and 25p after that for cars and vans, and 24p a mile for a motorcycle. The 55p rate applies from 6 April 2026; the first 10,000 miles were 45p before that.
Actual costs instead
The business share of what the vehicle costs to run: fuel, insurance, repairs and servicing, vehicle tax, breakdown cover and hire charges. The share comes from a log of business and private miles, and only the business share is claimed.
What the flat rate covers
The rate stands in for fuel, oil, servicing, repairs, insurance, vehicle tax and the MOT, and for the cost of the vehicle itself. Nothing else is claimed for the vehicle on top, except parking, tolls and congestion charges, and other travel such as train fares.
Who can use the flat rate
Sole traders and partnerships with no company partners. Not for a vehicle you have already claimed capital allowances for, or whose cost you have already deducted as an expense: for that vehicle you stay on actual costs.
The rules behind every claim: allowable expenses for sole traders.
Choose once, per vehicle
Once you use the flat rates for a vehicle, you must keep using them for as long as you use that vehicle in the business. HMRC's manual puts it the other way round too: the choice can only change when the vehicle is replaced. Each vehicle is its own decision, so a van on the flat rate and a car on actual costs is fine.
Most sole traders now use the cash basis, which became the default method of accounting on 6 April 2024. Under it, a van or any other vehicle except a car bought for the business is an allowable expense in the year you pay for it. A car is the exception: its cost is claimed as a capital allowance, unless you use the flat rate for it, in which case the cost of the car is inside the rate.
The flat rate usually pays when the vehicle is cheap to run and does a lot of business miles. Actual costs usually pay for an expensive vehicle used mostly for the business. Whichever you choose, keep the mileage log: it is the evidence for both methods.
Which journeys count
Between jobs and to customers
Driving from one job to the next, to a customer or a supplier, to the merchant for materials or to a site you work at for a short time is business travel under either method.
From home to a job
Travel between home and work is not allowable, but HMRC's manual accepts that a trader whose base is at home and who works at a changing series of places, like the bricklayer in Horton v Young, may claim travel from home to those places. Travel to a fixed place of work, where one reason for the journey is that you live elsewhere, is not allowed.
Parking, tolls and congestion charges
Parking at a job, tolls and congestion charges paid for business journeys are allowable on top of either method, because the flat rate covers the vehicle, not the journey.
Fines and private miles
Fines or penalty charges are never allowable, a parking fine included: a fine is there to punish, not to earn a profit. Non-business driving is never allowable either, under either method.
See what the claim saves you: the sole trader tax calculator.
Recording it in FileThat
A mileage entry takes the date and the miles and works out the deduction at the flat rates. Or record fuel and running costs as Motor and fuel with a business-use percentage, and the business share is filed. Parking and tolls go in as their own records.
Straight answers
How much can I claim per mile in 2026-27?
For a car or van, 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles in the tax year and 25p a mile after that. For a motorcycle, 24p a mile. The 55p rate applies from 6 April 2026; for the 2025-26 tax year and earlier the first 10,000 miles were 45p, with 25p after.
Can I claim mileage if I have already claimed capital allowances on my van?
No, not for that van. HMRC's rule is that you cannot use the flat rate for a vehicle you have already claimed capital allowances for, or whose cost you have already included as an expense when working out your profits. You carry on claiming its actual running costs instead, on the business share.
Can I claim fuel as well as the mileage rate?
No. The flat rate already covers fuel, oil, servicing, repairs, insurance, vehicle tax, the MOT and the cost of the vehicle, so none of those are claimed on top. What you can still claim on top are parking, tolls and congestion charges for business journeys, and other travel such as train fares.
Can I claim travel from home to a customer's job?
Often, yes. Gov.uk says travel between home and work is not allowable, but HMRC's manual accepts that a trader whose base of operations is at home and who travels to a changing series of jobs can claim the travel to those jobs. Driving every day to the same fixed place of work is the kind of journey that is not allowed.
Is a parking fine an allowable expense?
No. Gov.uk lists fines or penalty charges among the costs you cannot claim, and HMRC's manual explains why: a fine is imposed to punish, so it is not a cost of earning your profit. Parking itself, when it is for a business journey, is allowable under either method.
Can I switch from the mileage rate to actual costs?
Not for the same vehicle. Once you use the flat rates for a vehicle you must keep using them for as long as that vehicle is in the business, and HMRC's manual says the choice can only change when the vehicle is replaced. A new vehicle is a fresh choice, made in the first year you use it.
Do I have to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax?
If your qualifying income is over the threshold, yes. It has been £50,000 since 6 April 2026, and falls to £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028. Qualifying income is your turnover before expenses, from self-employment and property together, as shown on your tax return.
Keep every claim, file it with HMRC
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