How to claim mileage from HMRC
What you can claim, what records HMRC expects, and how to actually submit it.
1. Check the journey qualifies
Business travel means travel you have to do for your work — between workplaces, to a temporary workplace, or to see clients. Your normal journey from home to a permanent workplace is ordinary commuting and cannot be claimed.
2. Keep a record of every trip
For each journey you need the date, where you went from and to, why, and the distance. HMRC expects records kept as you go, not reconstructed months later — this is the part people lose money on, because forgotten trips simply never get claimed.
3. Total it at the approved rates
Apply 55p per mile to your first 10,000 business miles in the tax year and 25p after that. Subtract anything your employer already paid you for those miles.
4. Submit it
If you complete a Self Assessment return, the figure goes in the employment expenses section (or as a simplified expense if you are self-employed). If you do not file a return and you are an employee, HMRC has a separate process for claiming tax relief on employment expenses.
5. What you actually receive
As an employee you get tax relief, not the full amount — so a £1,000 claim is worth £200 to a basic-rate taxpayer and £400 at higher rate. If you are self-employed, the mileage total reduces your taxable profit instead.
Work out your mileage claim
Uses the HMRC approved mileage allowance payment (AMAP) rates for 2026/27: 55p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles, then 25p.
Stop reconstructing your mileage from memory
Odo logs your drives automatically in the background, you swipe each one business or personal, and it totals your claim at the 2026/27 rates — with a CSV your accountant can use.