Guide
Mileage allowance and mileage logs in the UK
What you can claim, what HMRC expects a mileage record to contain and how to prove it — as an employee, as self-employed and with a company car.
Want the log without the admin? The MoveJack mileage tracker app records every journey automatically, with nothing fitted to the car.
55p
Approved rate, first miles in your own car
£6,000
Per year at 1,000 miles a month
5 years
How long to keep self-employed records
Employees
As an employee
What your employer can pay free of tax, and what to do when they pay less.
Does my employer have to pay mileage?
No. There is no legal duty to pay for business mileage in your own car; the entitlement comes from your contract or your employer’s policy. Most employers do pay, usually per mile.
What matters for tax is the approved rate: up to it the payment is free of tax, and above it the excess is taxable. National Insurance is worked out on its own figure — a flat rate for every business mile, with no 10,000-mile step — so a payment can be free of National Insurance and still be partly taxable.
What if my employer pays less than the approved rate?
Then you can claim tax relief on the difference — Mileage Allowance Relief. You claim it for the shortfall, not for the whole amount — online or with form P87, or through Self Assessment if you already file a return — and you need a record of the business miles you actually drove.
MoveJack keeps the date, addresses and distance per trip; the purpose you add in the note.
Do commuting miles count?
Ordinary commuting between home and your permanent workplace does not count as business mileage. Travel to a temporary workplace or to a client usually does.
Because the two are treated differently, MoveJack separates commute from business from the first trip rather than at the end of the year.
Self-employed
If you are self-employed
Simplified mileage rates against actual costs, and what to keep.
Can I claim mileage instead of actual costs?
You can use simplified expenses — a flat rate per business mile — instead of working out the actual running costs of the vehicle. Once you use the flat rate for a vehicle, you keep using it for as long as you have that vehicle.
Which is better depends on your mileage and your running costs, so it is worth checking both with your accountant.
Which journeys are business journeys?
Journeys made wholly for the trade: to clients, suppliers, jobs, training or professional appointments. Travel between home and a permanent base is not.
Private journeys stay out of the claim but should remain visible, which is why every trip carries its own type.
How long do I keep the records?
Keep self-employed records for at least five years after the 31 January filing deadline for that tax year. If you file Self Assessment as an employee, HMRC asks you to keep your records for at least 22 months after the end of the tax year. Export to Excel or PDF at least once a year and keep those files safe yourself.
Since MoveJack keeps your trips only on your phone, keep that export somewhere else too. To get your trips back into the app on a new phone, also make a backup file under My data.
Records
A mileage record that stands up
What goes in it, what gets it rejected, and whether an app is enough.
What should a mileage record contain?
Per journey: the date, where you went, why, and the miles driven. Keeping the odometer reading at the start and end of the year makes the total verifiable.
MoveJack captures time, addresses and distance automatically; you add the reason, which no device can know, and the odometer readings you take yourself.
What makes a record fail a check?
Gaps, round numbers that repeat, missing reasons, and figures that were clearly written up months later. A spreadsheet that anyone can edit afterwards is the weakest form.
If the record is not accepted, the relief goes with it — which is usually more expensive than keeping the log properly.
Is an app enough on its own?
An app helps because it records each trip at the time; the purpose, and odometer readings where needed, you add yourself. Whether your particular record is accepted is decided by the check on your own case, not by the supplier — so we do not claim otherwise.
What we do promise: each trip the app detects is recorded as you drive, it stays on your device, and you can export it whenever you want.
Give it a week.
Three days free. At the end of the week you can see what is already in the log.
This guide is an orientation, not tax advice. HMRC guidance and your accountant’s view are what count.