HMRC Mileage & Travel Expenses for UK Sole Traders

If you travel for work as a sole trader — to client sites, meetings, or temporary work locations — you are almost certainly entitled to claim travel costs as a business expense. Done correctly, this can reduce your taxable profit by hundreds or thousands of pounds per year.

HMRC has specific rules about what counts as a business journey, which vehicles qualify, how to calculate the claim, and what records you need to keep. This guide covers all of it. For a full overview of every expense category sole traders can claim, see the complete allowable expenses guide.

HMRC Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAP)

The simplest and most widely used method for sole traders to claim vehicle costs is the HMRC Approved Mileage Allowance Payment (AMAP) rate. Rather than tracking actual fuel, insurance, and maintenance costs, you claim a flat rate per mile.

AMAP rates 2026/27

Vehicle type	First 10,000 miles	Over 10,000 miles
Cars and vans	45p per mile	25p per mile
Motorcycles	24p per mile	24p per mile
Bicycles	20p per mile	20p per mile

These rates are set by HMRC and cover all vehicle running costs — fuel, oil, tyres, insurance, depreciation, servicing — so you do not claim those costs separately when using the mileage rate.

Worked example: 8,000 miles in a tax year

James is a self-employed plumber. He travels to customer sites daily. In the 2026/27 tax year, he drives 8,000 business miles in his van.

AMAP calculation:

8,000 miles × 45p = £3,600 claimable expense

At the basic income tax rate of 20%, this generates £720 in tax relief.

At the higher rate of 40% (if James's profits push him into that band), the relief would be £1,440.

He also saves on Class 4 National Insurance (at 6% and 2%), adding further to the total benefit of claiming correctly.

What counts as a business journey

This is where many sole traders go wrong. Not all work-related driving is claimable.

Claimable business journeys

• Travel from home (or your normal base) to a client site
• Travel between two work locations (for example, visiting one client then another)
• Travel to a temporary workplace — a location you attend for a limited period (generally less than 24 months)
• Travel to business meetings, training courses, conferences, or trade events

Not claimable: commuting

The key test is whether the location is a temporary workplace or a permanent, regular workplace. HMRC defines a temporary workplace as one you attend for no more than 40% of your working time and for a limited duration. If a client site eventually becomes somewhere you attend regularly and long-term, it may shift from being a claimable journey to a commute.

Actual costs method vs mileage rate

You have a choice when claiming vehicle expenses: use the AMAP mileage rate, or claim a proportion of your actual running costs.

	AMAP mileage rate	Actual costs method
What you claim	Flat pence per mile	Fuel, insurance, MOT, servicing, depreciation — proportioned to business use
Records needed	Mileage log	Full receipts + business/personal split
Admin burden	Low	High
Best for	Most sole traders	High-mileage drivers with older, low-value vehicles
Flexibility	Can switch per vehicle per year (with restrictions)	Once chosen, must stick with it for that vehicle

For the vast majority of sole traders, the AMAP rate is simpler and produces a comparable or better result. If you are considering the actual costs method, the calculation must cover all motoring costs and apportion them by business mileage as a percentage of total mileage — including MOT, insurance, road tax, and a depreciation allowance (via capital allowances).

Once you have used the actual costs method for a vehicle in any tax year, you cannot switch to the AMAP rate for that vehicle in future years. If you start with a new vehicle, you make the choice fresh.

What else you can claim alongside the mileage rate

The AMAP rate covers all vehicle running costs — but certain additional travel costs are claimable on top:

Yes — claimable in addition to mileage

• Parking charges at client sites or business destinations (keep receipts)
• Toll fees (Dartford Crossing, road tolls, bridge tolls)
• Congestion Charge when travelling for business in London
• ULEZ charges when travelling for business in applicable zones

No — not claimable

• Parking fines — HMRC is clear: fines and penalties are never claimable, even if incurred on a business journey
• Speeding fines or penalty notices — same rule
• Fuel costs separately — covered by the mileage rate; do not double-claim

Public transport

If you travel by train, bus, or taxi for business purposes, you can claim the actual cost — including the cost of a seat reservation or Railcard-discounted fares where the Railcard was purchased for business travel.

Keep all receipts. For public transport claims, receipts are essential because you are claiming actual cost rather than a standard rate.

If you buy a season ticket that covers both business and personal travel, you can only claim the business proportion. This requires a reasonable estimate of how many journeys are business-related.

Overnight travel and subsistence

If a business trip requires you to stay away from home overnight, you can claim:

• Accommodation: actual cost, keep receipts
• Meals: HMRC allows reasonable subsistence costs for genuine overnight business trips
• Subsistence during day trips: if you are away from your base for a long day trip, you may claim the cost of meals, but only if the trip is genuinely work-related and the cost is reasonable

HMRC does not set a fixed daily rate for sole trader subsistence (unlike employed workers). The test is reasonableness — a business lunch at a client site is different from an expensive dinner you would have had anyway.

How to keep a mileage log

HMRC expects you to keep records of all business mileage. A mileage log should include:

• Date of the journey
• Starting point (your home or normal base)
• Destination
• Purpose of the journey (client name, meeting, site visit)
• Miles travelled (start odometer reading, end reading, or a calculated route)

You do not need paper records — a spreadsheet, a notes app, or a dedicated mileage tracking app all work.

How MTD software helps with mileage tracking

Under Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, sole traders earning over £50,000 must keep digital records of expenses from April 2026 and submit quarterly updates to HMRC. Mileage claimed under AMAP is a deductible expense — it needs to appear in your quarterly digital records alongside other costs.

Several MTD-compatible apps make this easier:

• QuickBooks: mobile app includes a built-in GPS mileage tracker. It automatically logs trips when you drive and lets you categorise them as business or personal
• FreeAgent: allows manual mileage entries linked to client projects
• Sage: manual entry with a dedicated mileage expense category

Tracking mileage digitally throughout the year — rather than reconstructing it at year end — reduces errors, satisfies HMRC's digital record-keeping requirement, and makes quarterly submissions much faster. Check whether MTD applies to you if you are unsure about your qualifying income.

Prices as of April 2026 — check each provider's website for current pricing.

A note on electric vehicles

The AMAP rates for cars and vans apply regardless of fuel type — electric vehicles qualify for the same 45p/25p rates. HMRC introduced an advisory electricity rate for employees, but for sole traders using the AMAP method, the standard car rate applies.

If you own or lease an electric vehicle and use the actual costs method instead, the lack of fuel costs simplifies the running cost calculation — though depreciation and lease costs still need to be included and apportioned.

Mileage expenses: key rules at a glance

• Claim 45p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles per tax year (cars and vans), then 25p
• Only business journeys are claimable — commuting is not
• The mileage rate covers all vehicle running costs; do not also claim fuel separately
• Parking, tolls, and congestion charges are claimable on top
• Parking fines are never claimable
• Keep a mileage log with date, destination, purpose, and distance for every journey
• Public transport: claim actual cost with receipts
• Overnight business travel: accommodation and reasonable subsistence are claimable
• Keep all records for at least five years

For everything else you can claim as a sole trader — from home office costs to professional fees and equipment — see the allowable expenses guide.