Mileage & expenses
What you can claim, the approved mileage rates, and what counts as a business mile.
Guides
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
ULEZ, clean air zones and the congestion charge
If your vehicle does not meet the emissions standard, driving into a charging zone costs a daily fee. London ULEZ and the seven English clean air zones each set their own rules, and a Class C zone charges vans and taxis but not private cars.
Vehicles & equipmentUpdated 27/08/2026
How Amazon Flex pay works
Amazon Flex pays a fixed price for a block of time, quoted before you accept it. The figure is gross, it says nothing about the miles the route will run, and everything after that, fuel, insurance, wear and tax, comes out of it.
Earnings & profitabilityUpdated 27/08/2026
Which miles the app counts, and which HMRC counts
A delivery app measures the miles it pays you for, which is usually the distance from pickup to drop. HMRC lets you claim every business mile you drove, including getting to the pickup, waiting, repositioning and returning. The app figure is almost always the smaller one.
Mileage & expensesUpdated 27/08/2026
Allowable expenses for delivery drivers: the full list
What you can claim, what you cannot, and the ones that depend on how you have claimed for your vehicle. Written for drivers using the mileage method, because most are.
Mileage & expensesUpdated 20/08/2026
Self Assessment for delivery drivers: the complete guide
Registering, what counts as income, what you can claim, how much tax you will owe and when it is due - written for UK delivery and courier drivers, correct for the 2026/27 tax year.
HMRC & taxUpdated 19/08/2026
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
Articles
Renting a PCO car: mileage rate or actual costs?
If you rent your private hire car by the week, you cannot claim both the rental and the mileage rate. Which one to claim depends on the rent, your miles and how much of the week the car works. Here is the arithmetic.
Mileage & expensesUpdated 29/09/2026
The trading allowance against claiming expenses
You can deduct the £1,000 trading allowance from your turnover, or you can deduct your real expenses. Not both. For anyone driving more than a few hours a week the expenses win easily, because the mileage claim alone passes £1,000 inside about two thousand business miles.
HMRC & taxUpdated 27/08/2026
The 10,000 mile threshold, worked
The mileage rate for a car drops from 55p to 25p after 10,000 business miles in a tax year. The threshold resets on 6 April, it counts business miles only, and a full-time driver usually passes it before the year is half done.
Mileage & expensesUpdated 27/08/2026
Parking, tolls and what is deductible
Parking charges and tolls on business journeys are deductible, and they can be claimed on top of the mileage rate. Fines are not, ever. That includes parking tickets, bus lane penalties and speeding fines, however unavoidable the ticket felt at the time.
Mileage & expensesUpdated 27/08/2026
Mileage method or actual costs: which is worth more?
For most delivery drivers the mileage method wins, and it is not close. At 55p a mile it usually beats the real running cost of an ordinary car, and it needs no receipts.
Mileage & expensesUpdated 20/08/2026
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.
HMRC & taxUpdated 20/08/2026
Is Amazon Flex worth it?
Blocks look well paid until you subtract fuel, wear and tax. Here is how to work out what a Flex block is actually worth to you.
Earnings & profitabilityUpdated 19/08/2026
Questions
JoltMile Help
Business mileage and the distance calculator
How JoltMile applies the 55p and 25p approved rates, tracks your 10,000-mile threshold, and works out distances from postcodes.
Mileage & expensesUpdated 29/09/2026
How JoltMile works out your fuel cost
Cost per mile from your own MPG and price per litre, with a weekly UK average price from the government fuel data.
Mileage & expensesUpdated 29/09/2026
Expenses and receipts
Recording what you spend, which costs are allowable, how to claim only the business share of a part-personal cost, and where it all lands on your tax return.
Mileage & expensesUpdated 29/09/2026
Your JoltMile subscription as a claimable expense
Why a JoltMile subscription appears in your expenses automatically, where the figure comes from, and why you cannot edit it.
Mileage & expensesUpdated 29/09/2026
The distance calculator
The postcode-to-postcode calculator was part of the web dashboard. How miles are worked out in the app instead.
Mileage & expensesUpdated 29/09/2026
News
HMRC mileage rate rises from 45p to 55p a mile
The approved mileage rate for cars and vans rose to 55p for the first 10,000 business miles from 6 April 2026 - the first change since 2011.
Mileage & expensesUpdated 19/08/2026
Draft shifts, and the distance calculator in the wizard
Save an unfinished shift and come back to it, and work out mileage from postcodes without leaving the wizard.
Getting startedUpdated 19/08/2026