What is the HMRC approved mileage rate for 2026/27?

Full answer

Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAP) are the tax-free amounts you can be paid, or claim, for using your own vehicle for business travel. For 2026/27 the rates are: cars and vans 45p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles in the tax year, then 25p per mile for every mile above 10,000; motorcycles 24p per mile (no threshold change); and bicycles 20p per mile. The 10,000-mile threshold resets each tax year on 6 April. These rates are designed to cover all the running costs of the vehicle - fuel, insurance, servicing, depreciation and road tax - so you cannot also claim those costs separately. Worked example: you drive 12,000 business miles in your own car during the year. The first 10,000 miles attract 45p (GBP 4,500) and the remaining 2,000 miles attract 25p (GBP 500), giving GBP 5,000 of approved payments that can be paid free of tax and National Insurance. Who this affects: employees who use a personal vehicle for work journeys (not the ordinary commute), and the self-employed who use the simplified mileage method instead of claiming actual vehicle costs. If your employer pays you less than the AMAP rate, you can claim Mileage Allowance Relief on the shortfall through your tax return or a P87. If your employer pays more than the AMAP rate, the excess is taxable. A point often missed: you can also claim 5p per passenger per mile tax-free if you carry colleagues on the same business trip, but only employers can pay this - employees cannot claim relief on unpaid passenger payments. Keep a mileage log with dates, journeys and purpose. To see how mileage relief or self-employed expenses affect your bill, use the self-employed tax calculator or the income tax calculator.

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