The short answer
For the 2026 to 2027 tax year the approved mileage rate for a car or van you own is 55p per business mile for the first 10,000 miles and 25p per mile after that, according to GOV.UK. Before 6 April 2026 the first-band rate was 45p. Motorcycles are 24p and bicycles 20p, unchanged.
Your employer can pay you up to those amounts tax-free. If they pay less, you can claim tax relief on the shortfall from HMRC. If they pay more, the excess is taxed as pay. Ordinary commuting between home and your normal workplace does not count.
What the rates are
The table is GOV.UK's, as it read on 28 October 2026. The 10,000-mile threshold is counted across every vehicle you use in the tax year, not per car.
| Vehicle | First 10,000 business miles | Above 10,000 miles |
|---|---|---|
| Cars and goods vehicles (2026 to 2027) | 55p | 25p |
| Cars and goods vehicles (before 6 April 2026) | 45p | 25p |
| Motorcycles | 24p | 24p |
| Bicycles | 20p | 20p |
The rate is meant to cover everything: fuel, insurance, tax, servicing, tyres and the car losing value. You cannot claim those separately on top. An employer can also pay up to 5p per mile tax-free for each colleague you carry on a business journey; there is no tax relief if they choose not to (GOV.UK, passenger payments).
If your employer pays less than the rate
Total your business miles for the tax year, work out the approved amount at the rates above, and subtract what your employer actually paid you for those miles. The difference is the amount you can claim tax relief on. The relief is at your rate of income tax, so it is a share of the shortfall, not the whole shortfall. GOV.UK's employee page says you can claim for the current tax year and the four before it.
You must send HMRC copies of your mileage logs. Each entry needs the reason for the journey and the start and end postcodes. If you have more than one job you need a log for each. If you already fill in a tax return, you claim through the return instead of the online form.
The employer's page sets out the other side: anything paid above the approved amount goes on form P11D and is taxed as earnings.
Company car drivers: the advisory fuel rates
If the car is your employer's, the mileage rates above do not apply. Instead HMRC publishes advisory fuel rates, which are the tax-free amounts an employer can pay you per business mile for fuel you bought, or the amount you repay for private miles when the employer buys the fuel. From 1 September 2026 they are: petrol 14p for engines of 1400cc or less, 17p for 1401cc to 2000cc and 27p over 2000cc; diesel 15p for 1600cc or less, 16p for 1601cc to 2000cc and 22p over 2000cc; LPG 11p, 13p and 20p across the petrol bands; and for fully electric cars 7p per mile for home charging and 15p for public charging (GOV.UK advisory fuel rates).
HMRC reviews them on 1 March, 1 June, 1 September and 1 December, and the old rates can be used for up to one month after new ones take effect. The next change is due on 1 December 2026, so check the page before any year-end claim.
Keeping the records
- Log every business journey on the day: date, reason, start and end postcodes, miles. A notes app or a paper book is fine; HMRC wants the content, not a format.
- Keep what your employer pays you per mile on payslips or expense statements, so the shortfall is simple to show.
- Separate the commute. Home to your normal workplace is not business travel. A temporary workplace can be; the GOV.UK page explains the distinction.
- Keep the car's own paperwork too. The MOT history on GOV.UK records the mileage at every test, which is a useful cross-check if HMRC ever asks whether the annual total is plausible.
What this does not cover
This is general information from the GOV.UK pages named below, read on 28 October 2026, and not tax advice. The rates can change at any fiscal event, and the advisory fuel rates change every quarter. If you are self-employed the rules differ, and if your employer runs a salary-sacrifice or allowance scheme the figures above may not be the ones that apply to you. Check with HMRC or a qualified adviser for your own position.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. GOV.UK shows 55p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles in a car or van for the 2026 to 2027 tax year, against 45p before 6 April 2026. The rate above 10,000 miles stays at 25p.
You can claim tax relief on the difference between what you were paid and the approved amount at 55p and 25p. You get relief at your income tax rate on that shortfall, not the shortfall itself, and you must send HMRC your mileage logs.
No. GOV.UK says travel to and from your work does not count unless it is a temporary place of work. Journeys between sites, to clients or to a temporary posting can count.
Company car drivers use the advisory fuel rates, which cover fuel only and depend on engine size and fuel type. From 1 September 2026 they range from 14p to 27p per mile for petrol and diesel, with 7p or 15p per mile for electric cars depending on where you charge.
Sources and method
This article contains no MOT statistics. Every rate is quoted from the GOV.UK pages listed under Sources as they read on 28 October 2026. The MOT reliance notice below applies to the MOT history check this article mentions.
- GOV.UK: Claim tax relief for your job expenses, vehicles you use for work
- GOV.UK: Expenses and benefits, business travel mileage, rules for tax
- GOV.UK: Passenger payments
- GOV.UK: Advisory fuel rates
About these figures. GOV.UK content reproduced in summary under the Open Government Licence v3.0. SortedCars is not HMRC; the links above go to the official pages. Where MOT statistics appear on this site they are computed from the DVSA anonymised MOT results dataset. No figure is shown for any group with fewer than 500 tests. Test class 4 only, first tests only; retests are excluded. Pass rates describe fleets, not individual machines: they reflect how cars were driven, maintained and used as well as how they were built, and beyond recorded mileage none of that is in the data. A well-kept example of a model with a weak average can still pass; a neglected example of a strong one can still fail. Alias spellings of a make are counted under one make name and all trims of a model under one model name, using SortedCars' grouping tables.
This article is general information drawn from published test records. It is not professional, mechanical or legal advice, and an MOT pass or a clean MOT history does not guarantee that a car is roadworthy today. If you are unsure about a car, have it inspected by a qualified mechanic. You can check any vehicle's MOT history free on the official GOV.UK MOT history service.
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