Mileage allowance relief
Plenty of employers still reimburse business mileage at 45p — or at 25p, or at nothing at all. If you are paid less than the approved rate, the shortfall is not lost: you can claim tax relief on it.
How it works
HMRC's approved rate for 2026/27 is 55p per mile for your first 10,000 business miles. Whatever your employer actually pays you, the gap between the two is the amount you can claim relief on.
| Your employer pays | Shortfall per mile | On 5,000 miles |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing | 55p | £2,750.00 |
| 25p | 30p | £1,500.00 |
| 45p (the old approved rate) | 10p | £500.00 |
Paid a higher rate that drops off early? NHS mileage rates fall to 36p after 4,500 miles, so higher-mileage NHS staff often end the year below the approved amount.
Note the last row: because the approved rate rose on 6 April 2026 and many mileage policies have not been updated, employees who were fully reimbursed last year now have a shortfall they can claim on.
What it is actually worth
Relief is not a refund of the whole shortfall — it reduces your taxable income by that amount. A £500 shortfall is worth £100 to a basic-rate taxpayer and £200 at higher rate.
How to claim it
If you do not file a Self Assessment return and the claim is £2,500 or less, use HMRC's online form or the P87 form, and attach your mileage log — HMRC now asks for the reason and start and end postcodes of every journey.
How far back you can go
Claims for tax relief on employment expenses can generally be made for the previous four tax years, so an unclaimed shortfall from earlier years is usually still recoverable.
Work out your mileage claim
Every forgotten trip is money left unclaimed. Odo records each drive for you automatically →
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 export of every trip: date, reason, distance and the start and end postcodes HMRC asks for in a PAYE claim.