Self-Employed Car & Van Expenses 🚗 Mileage vs Actual Costs Explained

Travel and vehicle costs can be one of your biggest tax-deductible expenses. Here’s how to maximise those claims.

Rule of Thumb

🚚 Van drivers – It's usually best that the business buys the van and pays the actual running costs (fuel, insurance, repairs etc)

🚗 Car used for business/personal – The most tax-efficient method is to pay for your own vehicle and keep a Mileage Log for your business journeys.

Remember: Once you pick a method for a vehicle, you stick with it.

HMRC's 2 min. video summaries this nicely:

How much can you claim using a Mileage Log?

HMRC allows 45p per mile as long as your business journeys are logged (25p per mile after the first 10,000 miles).

Your mileage log must include

📅 Date

📍 Start + Destination (at least property number + postcode)

🎯 Purpose (which customer/supplier you visited and why)

🚗 Number of miles driven

💡 Optional tip: Snap a photo of the Google Maps directions and upload it to your app.

Like all business records, send your Mileage Log to your accountant at your year-end and keep it for 6 years + the current tax year.

Tools to help 📝

Take your pick from two perfectly good solutions:

Mileage Log by MAC.xlsx

Download XLSX • 152KB

1. Download our Excel template 👉

2. Prefer an app? Try: Driversnote

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