If you use your own car or van for the business, you have two ways to claim it: the actual running costs, split between business and private use, or HMRC’s flat rate per business mile. Most sole traders use the flat rate because it needs one record, a mileage log, instead of a shoebox of fuel receipts.
The rates
| Vehicle | Journeys up to 5 April 2026 (2025/26) | Journeys from 6 April 2026 (2026/27) |
|---|---|---|
| Car or van, first 10,000 business miles in the tax year | 45p a mile | 55p a mile |
| Car or van, every business mile after 10,000 | 25p a mile | 25p a mile |
| Motorcycle, every business mile | 24p a mile | 24p a mile |
There is no flat rate for bicycles for the self-employed. The 20p cycle rate you may have seen is for employees.
The rate follows the date of the journey, not the date you do your accounts. A trip on 3 April 2026 is 45p; the same trip on 7 April 2026 is 55p. The 10,000-mile threshold is counted per tax year, so the count resets on 6 April.
What the flat rate covers
The flat rate replaces everything about running the vehicle: fuel, insurance, servicing, repairs, tax, and the cost of buying it. You can’t claim any of those on top. Business parking and tolls are separate travel costs and can still be claimed.
What counts as a business journey is the same either way: trips to customers, suppliers, sites, the bank or the cash-and-carry. Private trips don’t count, and neither does travel to a place that has become your regular workplace.
A worked example
12,400 business miles in a car
| 2025/26 | 2026/27 | |
|---|---|---|
| First 10,000 miles | 10,000 × 45p = £4,500 | 10,000 × 55p = £5,500 |
| Remaining 2,400 miles | 2,400 × 25p = £600 | 2,400 × 25p = £600 |
| Claim | £5,100 | £6,100 |
Same mileage, £1,000 more to claim in 2026/27. At the 20% basic rate plus 6% Class 4 National Insurance, that’s about £260 less tax and NI for a basic-rate sole trader.
Where it goes on the tax return
On the full self-employment pages (SA103F) the mileage claim goes in box 20, car, van and travel expenses, together with any parking, tolls, train and bus fares. If you use the trading allowance instead of expenses, you don’t claim mileage at all: the £1,000 allowance replaces every expense, including this one. Trading allowance or actual expenses: which should you claim? walks through that choice.
What the spreadsheet does
The Mileage tab of the Sole Trader Bookkeeping spreadsheet takes the date, the journey and the miles, and applies the right rate for that date: 45p before 6 April 2026, 55p from then, 25p once the tax year’s car and van miles pass 10,000, and 24p for motorcycles. The total flows into the Tax Estimate and the SA103 Summary, so the box 20 figure is ready to copy.
Questions people ask
Do I get 55p for every mile in 2026/27?
For the first 10,000 business miles in the tax year, in a car or van. Every business mile after that is 25p. Motorcycles are 24p for every mile.
Can I switch between the flat rate and actual costs?
Not for the same vehicle. Once you use the flat rate for a vehicle you carry on using it for as long as you use that vehicle in the business. You can choose again when you change vehicle.
Is the 55p rate the same for employees?
This guide covers the simplified expenses rate for the self-employed. Employees who claim mileage from an employer use the separate approved mileage allowance payment rates, which gov.uk publishes on its own page.
What records do I need?
The date, where you went, why, and the miles. A mileage log with those four columns is enough, and HMRC can ask to see it.
Sources
- gov.uk: Simplified expenses if you're self-employed, vehicles (rates for journeys before and from 6 April 2026). Checked 29 September 2026.
- gov.uk: Expenses if you're self-employed, travel.
This is general information, not tax advice. Figures are as published on gov.uk on the date shown and can change. Check them, or ask an accountant, before you rely on them.