For the first time since 2011, the tax-free mileage rate has gone up. HMRC’s approved rate for cars and vans has risen from 45p to 55p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles — and it’s backdated to 6 April 2026. If you drive a van for work, that’s real money back in your pocket. Here’s what changed and how to claim it.
The new 2026/27 rates
| Vehicle | First 10,000 miles | Over 10,000 miles |
|---|---|---|
| Cars & vans | 55p (was 45p) | 25p (unchanged) |
| Motorcycles | 24p | 24p |
| Bicycles | 20p | 20p |
Only the first-10,000-mile car and van rate changed. Everything above 10,000 miles, plus motorcycle and bicycle rates, stayed the same.
What the rise is actually worth
The extra 10p a mile adds up fast when you’re driving between jobs and suppliers all week. On the first 10,000 business miles:
- At 45p: you could claim up to £4,500 of tax-free mileage.
- At 55p: that rises to £5,500 — an extra £1,000 of allowance.
That’s £1,000 more of your income shielded from tax for a typical year’s driving. For a sole trader, the actual tax saved depends on your rate, but it’s a meaningful uplift for doing exactly what you were already doing.
How to claim it as a sole trader
The simplest route is HMRC’s simplified mileage method: instead of totting up fuel, insurance, servicing and depreciation, you claim a flat rate per business mile — now 55p for the first 10,000, then 25p. A few rules to know:
- You claim for business journeys only — not your normal commute, and not personal trips.
- You can’t mix methods for the same vehicle in the same year. If you use simplified mileage, you can’t also claim actual running costs for that van.
- Once you pick simplified mileage for a vehicle, you generally stick with it for as long as you use that vehicle.
For most tradespeople the flat rate is easier and often more generous than actual costs — especially now it’s gone up.
The catch: you need a mileage record
To claim, you have to be able to show the journeys. HMRC expects a record of each business trip — date, where you went, why, and the miles. You don’t need anything fancy, but you do need it kept throughout the year. Trying to reconstruct 12 months of driving the night before your tax return is where people lose money — they round down, forget trips, or give up and under-claim.
How Yoley helps
Yoley keeps your jobs, customers and addresses in one place, so the trips you need to log are already recorded against each job in your job diary. Pair that with Yoley’s receipt scanner and HMRC SA103 expense mapping and your mileage and your other allowable costs land in the right tax categories automatically — ready for your Self Assessment, free on the Free plan.