How much tax does a full-time delivery driver actually pay?
Far less than the headline turnover suggests. Mileage relief usually removes a third or more before income tax and National Insurance are worked out at all.
Last checked 12/09/2026.
The number people fear is the one on their platform statement. The number that gets taxed is much smaller, and the gap is almost entirely mileage relief.
A worked example
Take a full-time driver with £28,000 of platform earnings, 14,000 business miles and £900 of other allowable costs, in the 2026/27 tax year with no other income.
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Platform earnings | £28,000 |
| Mileage relief: 10,000 at 55p | -£5,500 |
| Mileage relief: 4,000 at 25p | -£1,000 |
| Other allowable expenses | -£900 |
| Taxable profit | £20,600 |
Income tax: the first £12,570 is covered by the personal allowance, leaving £8,030 taxed at 20%, which is £1,606.
Class 4 National Insurance: 6% on the £8,030 above £12,570, which is about £482.
Total: roughly £2,088 on £28,000 of earnings. That is about 7.5% of turnover, and about 10% of profit.
Why the effective rate is so low
Two reasons, and both are worth understanding rather than just being pleased about.
The first is that mileage relief is genuinely large. £6,500 of deduction on 14,000 miles is more than most drivers expect, and it is available whether or not they kept a single fuel receipt.
The second is that the relief is not free money. It exists because running a car for that mileage really does cost thousands of pounds a year. The tax you save is compensation for money you have already spent.
What moves the number
- Crossing 10,000 miles. Everything after it is worth 25p rather than 55p, so the second half of the year is taxed harder than the first.
- A PAYE job alongside. It usually uses the personal allowance, so every pound of delivery profit becomes taxable and the bill roughly doubles on the same driving.
- Not logging miles. A driver who claims nothing on the same figures pays tax on the full £28,000 and hands over roughly £4,700 instead. That is the whole argument for keeping a mileage log.
What to put aside
On these figures, around 8% of everything the platforms pay you would have covered it, with a margin. A common rule of thumb is 20% to 25% of earnings, which is comfortably too much for a driver claiming full mileage relief and about right for one who is not.
The better approach is not a rule of thumb at all. JoltMile estimates the bill from your own figures as the year runs, updating every time you log a shift, so the amount to set aside is a number rather than a guess.
Sources
About the author
Issac Davies, Founder of JoltMile
Issac Davies drives for gig apps in the UK and built JoltMile to show drivers what a shift actually pays once fuel, insurance and tax come off. Every guide here is checked against HMRC and gov.uk guidance, and is information rather than tax advice.
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Estimated tax · Self Assessment summary: the JoltMile app works this out from your own shifts. Your first 10 shifts are free.
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