{"id":63,"date":"2026-03-28T09:55:50","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T09:55:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milelify.com\/blog\/?p=63"},"modified":"2026-03-28T09:57:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T09:57:08","slug":"hmrc-mileage-claim-calculator-how-to-calculate-and-claim-your-business-miles-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milelify.com\/blog\/hmrc-mileage-claim-calculator-how-to-calculate-and-claim-your-business-miles-in-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"HMRC Mileage Claim Calculator: How to Calculate and Claim Your Business Miles in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you drive for work and you’re not using an HMRC mileage claim calculator, you’re almost certainly leaving money on the table.<\/strong> Mileage Allowance Relief is one of the most consistently underclaimed tax reliefs available to UK workers, freelancers, and self-employed drivers. The rules are straightforward, the approved rates are clearly published, and the calculation is simple arithmetic. Yet thousands of eligible drivers either don’t claim at all or claim less than they’re entitled to simply because they don’t have a reliable system for tracking and calculating their business miles.<\/p>\n

This guide covers everything you need to know about the HMRC mileage claim calculator process in 2026: what the approved rates are, how the calculation works for every vehicle type, who can claim, what records HMRC expects you to keep, and how a dedicated mileage tracking tool makes the entire process faster, more accurate, and fully compliant.<\/p>\n

Whether you’re self-employed, a freelancer, a gig worker, or an employee using your own car for business travel, understanding how to use an HMRC mileage claim calculator correctly is one of the most straightforward ways to reduce your tax bill this year.<\/p>\n

What Is the HMRC Mileage Claim Calculator and How Does It Work?<\/h2>\n

\"Mileage<\/p>\n

An HMRC mileage claim calculator is any tool, whether a manual formula, a spreadsheet, or a dedicated mileage app<\/a>, that uses HMRC’s approved rates to calculate the tax relief or reimbursement you can claim for using your own vehicle on business journeys. The underlying calculation is simple: multiply your total business miles by the approved rate for your vehicle type, and the result is the amount you can claim tax-free.<\/p>\n

The HMRC Approved Mileage Rates for 2025\/26<\/h3>\n

HMRC sets Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs) each tax year. For 2025\/26, the rates remain consistent with the previous year, which is now the fourteenth consecutive year they have stayed at the same level despite rising vehicle running costs. Here is the complete rate table:<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Vehicle Type<\/th>\nFirst 10,000 Miles<\/th>\nOver 10,000 Miles<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Cars and Vans<\/strong><\/td>\n45p per mile<\/td>\n25p per mile<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Motorcycles<\/strong><\/td>\n24p per mile<\/td>\n24p per mile<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bicycles<\/strong><\/td>\n20p per mile<\/td>\n20p per mile<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Electric Vehicles<\/strong><\/td>\n45p per mile<\/td>\n25p per mile<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

One additional rate applies in specific circumstances: if you carry a fellow employee as a passenger in your own car or van during a business journey, you can claim an extra 5p per mile per passenger on top of your standard rate. This passenger payment is tax-free up to that amount.<\/p>\n

These rates are designed to cover the full cost of business travel in your own vehicle, including fuel, insurance, servicing, depreciation, and road tax. You do not need to keep separate receipts for these expenses if you’re claiming the approved mileage rate. The flat rate covers everything.<\/p>\n

How to Calculate Your HMRC Mileage Claim: Step by Step<\/h3>\n

The calculation is straightforward once you have your business mileage total for the tax year. Here’s how to apply the HMRC mileage claim calculator formula:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Total your business miles<\/strong> driven during the tax year, separating by vehicle type if you use more than one<\/li>\n
  2. Apply the tiered rate for cars and vans<\/strong>: multiply the first 10,000 miles by 45p, then multiply any miles above 10,000 by 25p<\/li>\n
  3. Add the two figures together<\/strong> for your total claimable amount<\/li>\n
  4. Add passenger payments<\/strong> if applicable (5p per mile per passenger carried on business trips)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    For example: if you drove 14,000 business miles in your car during the 2025\/26 tax year, your calculation would be:<\/p>\n