Mileage calculator 2026/27

The Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAP) system lets employees and the self-employed claim a fixed pence-per-mile rate for business journeys in their own vehicle. For 2026/27 the rates are 55p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles in a tax year and 25p per mile thereafter for cars and vans, 24p per mile for motorcycles, and 20p per mile for bicycles. The 55p rate replaced 45p, which had been frozen since April 2011, and Budget 2026 made it permanent. From 6 April 2027 the rate above 10,000 miles rises to 35p. A passenger allowance of 5p per mile is also available for taking another employee on a qualifying business journey. This calculator works out your annual mileage claim for either tax year.

How AMAP works

If you use your own vehicle for business journeys, you can claim a tax-free allowance from your employer (or deduct from your trading profit if self-employed) at the AMAP rates:

These are HMRC’s approved rates. Employers can pay more or less than these rates, but anything above HMRC’s rate is taxable salary, and anything below the rate gives the employee a Mileage Allowance Relief claim through their tax return. Self-employed people using simplified expenses deduct the same rates for cars and goods vehicles.

What counts as a business journey

Only “business mileage” qualifies. The standard categories:

• Site visits: travelling to a client’s premises or a temporary workplace.
• Between offices: travelling between two of your employer’s premises.
• Sales calls and customer meetings: travelling to and from customer locations.
• Training and conferences: travelling to courses or industry events.

What doesn’t count:

• Commuting: home to permanent workplace and back. The “permanent workplace” rule is strict; if you have a regular base where you spend most of your time, journeys to and from that base are commuting, not business.
• Personal journeys: shopping, weekend trips, school runs.
• Mixed business and personal: only the business portion is claimable, prorated by miles.

The “24-month rule” can convert what looks like a temporary workplace into a permanent one. If you spend more than 40% of your working time at a single site for more than 24 months, that becomes a permanent workplace and journeys to it become non-deductible commuting.

Worked example: 12,500 business miles

A field-based employee drives 12,500 business miles in 2026/27:

• First 10,000 miles x 55p = £5,500
• Next 2,500 miles x 25p = £625
• Total claim: £6,125

In 2027/28 the same mileage gives £5,500 plus 2,500 miles x 35p = £875, a total of £6,375.

If the employer pays the full AMAP rate, the £6,125 reimbursement for 2026/27 is tax-free. If the employer only pays 30p flat, the employee is reimbursed 12,500 x 30p = £3,750 and can claim Mileage Allowance Relief of £6,125 minus £3,750 = £2,375. At 40% tax this saves £950 of income tax.

For a self-employed sole trader using their own car and simplified expenses, the £6,125 is deducted from trading profit. At 20% income tax plus 6% Class 4 NI, a combined 26%, this saves about £1,593 of tax for the year.

Records you need to keep

HMRC expects a contemporaneous mileage log. Each business journey should record:

• Date
• Reason for the journey (client name, project, meeting purpose)
• Start and end locations
• Total miles

You don’t need fuel receipts or specific journey-by-journey vehicle documentation under the AMAP system; the pence-per-mile rate covers all running costs (fuel, insurance, depreciation, maintenance) in one figure. But the journey log is essential. HMRC challenges to mileage claims often turn on whether the records are robust. A spreadsheet with the four columns above, kept reasonably contemporaneously, satisfies the requirement.

Specialist mileage tracking apps (Driversnote, MileIQ, TripLog) automate the log via GPS and are widely used by contractors and field-based staff.

Electric and hybrid cars

The AMAP rates apply to all car and van fuels: petrol, diesel, hybrid and fully electric. EV drivers can claim 55p per business mile in their own EV, despite the lower running costs of an EV compared to petrol. This is a structural advantage of using a personally owned EV for business mileage.

There’s a separate set of rates, Advisory Fuel Rates (AFRs), for company cars rather than personally owned vehicles. AFRs are updated quarterly and reflect actual fuel costs by engine size and fuel type. From 1 September 2026 the advisory electricity rate for fully electric company cars is 7p per mile for home charging and 15p per mile for public charging. AFRs are used to reimburse fuel cost on a company car’s business journeys without the reimbursement becoming a taxable benefit.

Passenger allowance

If you give a colleague a lift on a business journey, with both of you travelling for work, you can claim an extra 5p per mile per passenger from your employer. The colleague must be travelling for work, not personally. Self-employed sole traders cannot claim the passenger rate (it’s an employer-employee specific allowance).

When mileage exceeds AMAP rates

If your employer pays more than AMAP, say 60p per mile, the excess is taxable employment income. 60p minus 55p = 5p per mile is added to your taxable salary and taxed at your marginal rate.

If the employer pays 55p for every mile and doesn’t drop to the lower rate above 10,000 miles, the excess on miles 10,001 and over is taxable: 30p per mile in 2026/27 (55p minus 25p) and 20p per mile from 2027/28 (55p minus 35p).

Changes in 2026 and 2027

In May 2026 the government raised the rate for the first 10,000 business miles from 45p to 55p, backdated to 6 April 2026, in response to high fuel prices. It was the first increase since 2011. For National Insurance, the 2026/27 rate is 55p for all business miles. Budget 2026, on 28 October 2026, made the 55p rate permanent and raised the rate above 10,000 miles from 25p to 35p from 6 April 2027, with the same change to the self-employed simplified mileage rates. Read more in our post on mileage rates after Budget 2026.

Key takeaways

• AMAP rates for 2026/27: 55p/25p for cars and vans, 24p for motorcycles, 20p for bicycles.
• From 6 April 2027 the car and van rate above 10,000 miles rises to 35p; the 55p rate for the first 10,000 miles is permanent.
• A passenger allowance of 5p per mile per colleague applies for employees giving lifts to other employees on business journeys.
• Keeping a contemporaneous mileage log (date, reason, start/end, miles) is essential for HMRC compliance.
• AMAP applies to all fuel types, including fully electric cars; company cars use the separate Advisory Fuel Rates instead.

Frequently asked questions

Can I claim mileage and fuel separately? No. AMAP is a single combined rate covering fuel, insurance, depreciation, maintenance and all other running costs. You can’t claim fuel receipts on top of the AMAP rate. The exception is for company cars, where AFRs cover only fuel and the company carries the other costs.

What if my employer doesn’t reimburse mileage at all? You can claim Mileage Allowance Relief through Self Assessment or by writing to HMRC, for the full AMAP amount. If you do 8,000 business miles a year and your employer pays nothing, you can claim 8,000 x 55p = £4,400 against your taxable income, saving £880 at 20% tax or £1,760 at 40%.

Can I claim mileage to and from a client meeting if I work from home? If your home is your only workplace (no employer office), then yes, every business journey from home counts. If your home is one of several workplaces and you also have a permanent office, the situation is more nuanced; HMRC may treat journeys to and from the office as commuting. Get specific advice if you have a hybrid setup.

Do mileage rates differ in Scotland? No. AMAP is UK-wide. The same rates apply in Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland.