AMAP (approved mileage allowance payments)
AMAP is the flat per-mile rate HMRC lets you claim instead of working out what your vehicle actually costs. For a car or van it is 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles in a tax year and 25p after that.
Correct for the 2026/27 tax year. Last checked 12/09/2026.
The rate is meant to cover everything running the vehicle costs you: fuel, insurance, servicing, tyres, road tax, MOT and the value the car loses. That is why you cannot claim those separately on top.
What it means for your money
Drive 10,000 business miles in a year and the claim is worth the threshold miles at 55p. A driver doing 14,000 business miles claims the first 10,000 at the higher rate and the remaining 4,000 at 25p.
The threshold is per tax year and it resets on 6 April. It is also per vehicle in the sense that the rate depends on what you drive: cars and vans get one set of rates, motorcycles another, a bicycle another again.
Where to read more
The mileage guide works through a full year with figures. Business miles, commuting and the depot run covers which of your miles qualify in the first place, which is the part most drivers get wrong.
Sources
Related
The complete mileage guide for delivery drivers
What counts as a business mile, the 55p and 25p approved rates, the 10,000-mile threshold, and whether mileage or actual costs leaves you better off.
Mileage & expensesUpdated 19/08/2026
Simplified expenses
Simplified expenses are HMRC flat rates you can use instead of adding up what something really cost. For drivers the important one is the mileage rate, which replaces every running cost of the vehicle with a rate per mile.
Mileage & expensesUpdated 27/08/2026
Business mile
A business mile is a mile driven wholly and exclusively for the work. For a delivery driver that means the miles from the point you start working to the point you stop, including driving between drops and back to a depot.
Mileage & expensesUpdated 27/08/2026
Business miles, commuting and the depot run
A business mile is one driven wholly for the work. Commuting between home and a regular workplace is never claimable. For most gig drivers the working day starts when the app goes on, which makes the drive to a chosen pickup zone personal and the drive between drops business.
Mileage & expensesUpdated 27/08/2026
Record keeping, and how long to keep it
You have to keep enough to show how every figure on your return was arrived at: what you were paid, what you spent, and how far you drove for the work. Records have to be kept for 5 years after the filing deadline for the year they cover.
HMRC & taxUpdated 27/08/2026
Capital allowances on a vehicle
A capital allowance is tax relief on something you bought to keep and use, spread over years rather than deducted at once. You cannot claim capital allowances on a vehicle and use the mileage rate for it, so for most gig drivers this is a road not taken.
Mileage & expensesUpdated 27/08/2026