Guide
HMRC Mileage Rates 2026/27: 45p Becomes 55p
General information, not tax advice. Always check the current rules on gov.uk before claiming.
After fourteen years frozen at 45p, HMRC raised the approved mileage rate for cars and vans to 55p per mile for the 2026/27 tax year — the first change to Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs) since 2011/12. If you drive your own vehicle for work, the amount you can be reimbursed tax-free (or claim relief on) just went up by more than 20%.
The 2026/27 approved rates
| Vehicle | First 10,000 business miles | Above 10,000 miles |
|---|---|---|
| Cars and vans | 55p / mile (was 45p) | 25p / mile |
| Motorcycles | 24p / mile | 24p / mile |
| Bicycles | 20p / mile | 20p / mile |
Carrying a colleague on a business journey adds an extra 5p per passenger per mile, tax-free, on top of your own rate.
A worked example
You drove 12,000 business miles in your own car during 2026/27:
(10,000 × £0.55) + (2,000 × £0.25) = £5,500 + £500 = £6,000 tax-free. Under the old 45p rate the same mileage was worth £5,000 — the increase is worth £1,000 on this example alone.
Who this applies to
- Employees using their own vehicle: your employer can reimburse you up to the approved rate tax-free. If they pay you less (or nothing), you can claim Mileage Allowance Relief on the difference through Self Assessment or a P87 form.
- Self-employed: you can use the same flat rates instead of tracking actual vehicle costs (HMRC's "simplified expenses"), as long as you stay consistent for that vehicle.
The 10,000-mile threshold makes your log matter
Because the rate drops from 55p to 25p after 10,000 miles, HMRC expects a record showing when each business journey happened and how far it was — not just an annual total. For each trip: date, start and end points, distance, and business purpose.
If you use Google Maps, your phone has already recorded every journey in your Timeline, with GPS timestamps and distances. Turning that into a claimable log:
- Export your Timeline from your phone (see our Timeline export guide).
- Open the file in Time-mile — processed entirely in your browser, your location history never touches a server.
- Switch the distance unit to miles in the settings, then filter to your business journeys by date and activity type.
- Export a CSV to apply the 55p/25p split in a spreadsheet, or a PDF report for your records.
Build your mileage claim from real GPS data
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