What are your miles worth?
Every business mile you drive comes off your profit, at 55p a mile for the first 10,000. Most self employed people either forget to claim it or guess low. Put your miles in and see the figure.
Work journeys only. Getting from home to a single regular workplace is commuting and does not count.
On a bicycle there is no flat rate when you are self employed. You claim what the bike actually costs the business instead.
Roughly what you made after your other costs. Optional. It is only used to show what the claim is worth in actual tax.
Based on 2026/27 rates for a sole trader using simplified expenses. An estimate to show the shape of it, not a filed figure.
Income tax is worked out at the England, Wales and Northern Ireland rates.
The mileage rate is a simplified expense and it already covers the lot: the fuel, the insurance, the servicing, the road tax, the tyres, the repairs. Put mileage in and then put your fuel receipts in too and you have claimed the fuel twice. Pick mileage, and the pump receipts are just your record of the journeys, not a second deduction.
The trip to the merchant. The quote you drove out to give and never won. The run to the wholesaler because one part was missing. Each one is a business journey at 55p a mile, and each one is forgotten by the following Tuesday. HMRC expects a record behind the claim, so the date, the destination, the reason and the miles need to be somewhere. Most people reconstruct it in January from memory and go low, because a number you cannot back up is a number you talk yourself out of.
Let Lekhio keep the log for you →This is a general estimate using 2026/27 rates for a sole trader. It is not tax advice and it is not a filed figure. What you can actually claim depends on your own records and circumstances, which HMRC settles when you file. Lekhio prepares your figures and you always approve them.
Questions people ask
How much can I claim per mile in 2026/27?
For a car or a van, 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles in the tax year, then 25p a mile after that. Motorcycles are 24p a mile with no band. There is no flat rate for a bicycle when you are self employed: you claim what the bike actually costs the business. HMRC raised the car rate from 45p with effect from 6 April 2026.
Can I claim mileage and my fuel?
No, and this is the commonest mistake. The mileage rate is a simplified expense that already covers the fuel, the insurance, the servicing, the tax and the tyres. Claim mileage and then claim the fuel as well and you have claimed the fuel twice.
Is mileage better than buying the vehicle through the business?
It depends on the vehicle and on how far you drive. For an ordinary petrol or diesel car on high business miles, mileage is usually worth more, because the car is written down at a small percentage each year while mileage pays the same every year. A van, or a brand new electric car, gets its whole cost off your profit in year one, which mileage cannot match. You have to pick one for a given vehicle and you cannot swap later.
Do I need a mileage log?
Yes. HMRC expects a record of the business journeys behind the claim: the date, where you went, why, and the miles. A total with nothing behind it is the first thing an enquiry asks about.