[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":705},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-mileage-log-that-stands-up":3,"blog-related-mileage-log-that-stands-up":173},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"body":7,"category":157,"date":158,"description":159,"draft":160,"extension":161,"meta":162,"navigation":163,"path":164,"readTime":165,"seo":166,"stem":167,"tags":168,"__hash__":172},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fmileage-log-that-stands-up.md","How to keep a mileage log that stands up","The Milesheet Team",{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":148},"minimark",[10,14,19,22,55,58,62,76,79,83,86,92,98,104,108,111,114,118,121,136,139,142],[11,12,13],"p",{},"A mileage claim is only as good as the record behind it. If someone asks you to justify 8,400 business miles two years after the fact, you want a log that answers the question rather than a number you once believed.",[15,16,18],"h2",{"id":17},"what-a-record-should-contain","What a record should contain",[11,20,21],{},"For every business journey:",[23,24,25,33,38,44,49],"ul",{},[26,27,28,32],"li",{},[29,30,31],"strong",{},"The date"," it happened",[26,34,35],{},[29,36,37],{},"Where you started and where you finished",[26,39,40,43],{},[29,41,42],{},"Why it was business",", in enough words to jog a memory",[26,45,46],{},[29,47,48],{},"How far you went",[26,50,51,54],{},[29,52,53],{},"Which vehicle"," you used, if you have more than one",[11,56,57],{},"Add a running total for the tax year and you can prove the 45p and 25p banding is right, which is the part reconstructed logs almost always get wrong.",[15,59,61],{"id":60},"how-long-to-keep-it","How long to keep it",[23,63,64,70],{},[26,65,66,69],{},[29,67,68],{},"Employees"," claiming Mileage Allowance Relief: at least 22 months after the end of the tax year the claim relates to.",[26,71,72,75],{},[29,73,74],{},"Self-employed",": at least five years after the 31 January filing deadline for that tax year.",[11,77,78],{},"Keep the record in a form you can still open. A note on a phone you no longer own is not a record.",[15,80,82],{"id":81},"why-the-april-spreadsheet-is-the-weak-version","Why the April spreadsheet is the weak version",[11,84,85],{},"Three things go wrong when you write it all up at the end of the year.",[11,87,88,91],{},[29,89,90],{},"Memory."," You remember the big trips and forget the twenty-mile round trip to a supplier in October. Those are the miles you paid for and never claimed.",[11,93,94,97],{},[29,95,96],{},"Distance."," Postcode-to-postcode estimates are not the same as the route you drove. Sometimes that is in your favour, sometimes it is not, and either way it is not evidence.",[11,99,100,103],{},[29,101,102],{},"Banding."," Fill in the mileage in one lump and the 10,000-mile threshold gets applied to the total rather than to journeys in date order. If your driving is at all seasonal, that number is wrong.",[15,105,107],{"id":106},"the-habit-that-fixes-it","The habit that fixes it",[11,109,110],{},"Record as you go, and sort promptly. Anything that captures the drive at the time — an app, a notebook in the glovebox, a note dictated at the traffic lights — beats a perfect spreadsheet built from memory.",[11,112,113],{},"If you use Milesheet, this is the whole design: the journey is recorded while it happens, and the only question left is business or personal. It bands each trip against your running total for the tax year, keeps a per-trip and per-month record, and exports the lot as a PDF or CSV that reads like something you could hand to an accountant, because that is what it is for.",[15,115,117],{"id":116},"a-quick-self-test","A quick self-test",[11,119,120],{},"Pick a random week from three months ago. Can you say, without guessing:",[122,123,124,127,130,133],"ol",{},[26,125,126],{},"Which drives you made for work?",[26,128,129],{},"Where each one started and ended?",[26,131,132],{},"How far each one was?",[26,134,135],{},"Why it was business?",[11,137,138],{},"If the answer is no, your log is not a log yet. That is entirely fixable, and the fix takes about ten seconds a day.",[140,141],"hr",{},[11,143,144],{},[145,146,147],"em",{},"General information for UK drivers, not tax advice.",{"title":149,"searchDepth":150,"depth":150,"links":151},"",2,[152,153,154,155,156],{"id":17,"depth":150,"text":18},{"id":60,"depth":150,"text":61},{"id":81,"depth":150,"text":82},{"id":106,"depth":150,"text":107},{"id":116,"depth":150,"text":117},"HMRC & tax","2026-07-24","What HMRC expects a mileage record to contain, how long to keep it, and why the spreadsheet you fill in every April is the weakest version of it.",false,"md",{},true,"\u002Fblog\u002Fmileage-log-that-stands-up",5,{"title":5,"description":159},"blog\u002Fmileage-log-that-stands-up",[169,170,171],"hmrc","records","self assessment","HE9AO6LA2AIfYGMVCzUS63Uyh1TDUEoWupxl-ZmoNdE",[174,343,468,569],{"id":175,"title":176,"author":6,"body":177,"category":157,"date":333,"description":334,"draft":160,"extension":161,"meta":335,"navigation":163,"path":336,"readTime":165,"seo":337,"stem":338,"tags":339,"__hash__":342},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fhmrc-mileage-rates-explained.md","HMRC mileage rates explained: 45p, 25p and the 10,000-mile line",{"type":8,"value":178,"toc":326},[179,182,186,240,247,251,258,261,265,268,271,288,291,298,302,309,313,316,319,321],[11,180,181],{},"If you use your own car for work, HMRC lets you be paid a set amount per mile without any of it counting as taxable pay. These are the Approved Mileage Allowance Payments, and they have not changed since 2011.",[15,183,185],{"id":184},"the-rates","The rates",[187,188,189,205],"table",{},[190,191,192],"thead",{},[193,194,195,199,202],"tr",{},[196,197,198],"th",{},"Vehicle",[196,200,201],{},"First 10,000 business miles",[196,203,204],{},"Above 10,000",[206,207,208,220,230],"tbody",{},[193,209,210,214,217],{},[211,212,213],"td",{},"Cars and vans",[211,215,216],{},"45p per mile",[211,218,219],{},"25p per mile",[193,221,222,225,228],{},[211,223,224],{},"Motorcycles",[211,226,227],{},"24p per mile",[211,229,227],{},[193,231,232,235,238],{},[211,233,234],{},"Bicycles",[211,236,237],{},"20p per mile",[211,239,237],{},[11,241,242,243,246],{},"There is also a ",[29,244,245],{},"passenger rate",": 5p per mile for each colleague you carry on the same business journey. It is one of the most commonly missed parts of a claim, partly because you have to be able to say who was in the car and where you went.",[15,248,250],{"id":249},"the-10000-mile-line-is-per-tax-year-not-per-car","The 10,000-mile line is per tax year, not per car",[11,252,253,254,257],{},"This is where people slip up. The threshold resets on 6 April each year, and it counts ",[29,255,256],{},"all your business miles across every car and van you use",", not each vehicle separately. Two cars doing 6,000 business miles each is 12,000 miles: the first 10,000 at 45p, the last 2,000 at 25p.",[11,259,260],{},"The other subtlety: a single journey can straddle the line. If you hit 10,000 miles halfway through a 40-mile drive, the first 20 miles are worth 45p and the rest 25p. Any log worth keeping should split that trip rather than round the whole thing one way or the other.",[15,262,264],{"id":263},"what-if-your-employer-pays-less-than-45p","What if your employer pays less than 45p?",[11,266,267],{},"Very common, and worth money. If your employer pays you 25p a mile, you can claim tax relief on the difference between what you were paid and the approved rate. That is Mileage Allowance Relief, and you claim it through your Self Assessment return or a P87 if you do not file one.",[11,269,270],{},"Say you drove 4,000 business miles and were paid 25p:",[23,272,273,279,282],{},[26,274,275,276],{},"Approved amount: 4,000 × 45p = ",[29,277,278],{},"£1,800",[26,280,281],{},"Actually paid: 4,000 × 25p = £1,000",[26,283,284,285],{},"Relief due on: ",[29,286,287],{},"£800",[11,289,290],{},"You do not get £800 back. You get tax relief on £800, so a basic-rate taxpayer sees around £160. Still worth the ten minutes it takes to claim, and considerably more if your mileage is higher.",[11,292,293,294,297],{},"If your employer pays you ",[29,295,296],{},"more"," than the approved rate, the excess is taxable and should appear on your P11D.",[15,299,301],{"id":300},"if-you-drive-a-company-car-these-rates-are-not-yours","If you drive a company car, these rates are not yours",[11,303,304,305,308],{},"Approved mileage rates apply to your own vehicle. If the car belongs to the company, fuel is handled through ",[29,306,307],{},"Advisory Fuel Rates"," instead, which are lower, vary by engine size and fuel type, and are revised quarterly. Mixing the two up is the single most expensive mistake we see people make on a claim.",[15,310,312],{"id":311},"what-actually-needs-recording","What actually needs recording",[11,314,315],{},"For each business journey: the date, where you went and where from, why it was business, and how far it was. Keep the running total for the tax year so the banding is right, and hold on to the records for at least 22 months after the end of the tax year if you are employed, or five years after the filing deadline if you are self-employed.",[11,317,318],{},"That is precisely the job Milesheet does in the background: it records the journey as you drive, bands each trip against your running total for the year, and keeps the whole lot exportable as a PDF or CSV.",[140,320],{},[11,322,323],{},[145,324,325],{},"Rates and thresholds are correct at the time of writing and apply to the UK. This is general information, not tax advice: check with HMRC or your accountant before you file.",{"title":149,"searchDepth":150,"depth":150,"links":327},[328,329,330,331,332],{"id":184,"depth":150,"text":185},{"id":249,"depth":150,"text":250},{"id":263,"depth":150,"text":264},{"id":300,"depth":150,"text":301},{"id":311,"depth":150,"text":312},"2026-08-12","What the approved mileage rates actually are, how the 10,000-mile threshold works across a tax year, and the bit almost everyone gets wrong.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fhmrc-mileage-rates-explained",{"title":176,"description":334},"blog\u002Fhmrc-mileage-rates-explained",[169,340,341],"rates","claims","zXpmJj81S3-SHvbn8zBio3rTrqSZjwez6CV2Lkx0scE",{"id":344,"title":345,"author":6,"body":346,"category":157,"date":458,"description":459,"draft":160,"extension":161,"meta":460,"navigation":163,"path":461,"readTime":165,"seo":462,"stem":463,"tags":464,"__hash__":467},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fwhat-counts-as-a-business-mile.md","What actually counts as a business mile?",{"type":8,"value":347,"toc":450},[348,351,355,362,365,369,376,387,391,408,412,426,430,433,437,440,443,445],[11,349,350],{},"Most underclaimed mileage is not fraud in reverse, it is uncertainty. People are not sure which drives count, so they leave off the ones they could have claimed and add up the rest badly. Here is the line, in plain terms.",[15,352,354],{"id":353},"the-commute-does-not-count","The commute does not count",[11,356,357,358,361],{},"Travel between your home and your ",[29,359,360],{},"permanent workplace"," is ordinary commuting, and it is never business travel. It does not matter that you left at six in the morning, or that you carried equipment, or that you went in on a Sunday.",[11,363,364],{},"A permanent workplace is somewhere you attend regularly for your work, in a way that is not temporary or one-off.",[15,366,368],{"id":367},"temporary-workplaces-do-count","Temporary workplaces do count",[11,370,371,372,375],{},"Travel to a ",[29,373,374],{},"temporary workplace"," is business travel, and this is where the claims live. A workplace is temporary if you go there to do a task of limited duration, or for a temporary purpose.",[11,377,378,379,382,383,386],{},"The catch is the ",[29,380,381],{},"24-month rule",". If you expect to spend more than 40% of your working time at a site for more than 24 months, it stops being temporary. Importantly, it stops the moment you ",[145,384,385],{},"expect"," that to be true, not when the 24 months elapse. A contract extension can retrospectively change what you should have been claiming.",[15,388,390],{"id":389},"journeys-that-usually-count","Journeys that usually count",[23,392,393,396,399,402,405],{},[26,394,395],{},"Driving to a client, a customer, a supplier or a site",[26,397,398],{},"Travelling between two workplaces on the same day",[26,400,401],{},"Going from home directly to a temporary site, if you are not going via the office",[26,403,404],{},"Driving to a conference, training course or trade show your work requires",[26,406,407],{},"A trip to the bank, the post office or the wholesaler for the business, if you are self-employed",[15,409,411],{"id":410},"journeys-that-usually-do-not","Journeys that usually do not",[23,413,414,417,420,423],{},[26,415,416],{},"Home to your usual office, in any circumstances",[26,418,419],{},"A detour for something personal, for the personal part of the distance",[26,421,422],{},"Taking a colleague home after work, unless it is part of a business journey",[26,424,425],{},"Driving somewhere purely social, even with people from work",[15,427,429],{"id":428},"the-awkward-middle-home-as-a-workplace","The awkward middle: home as a workplace",[11,431,432],{},"If you genuinely work from home as a requirement of the job, journeys from home to a client can be business travel. But HMRC looks carefully at whether home is a workplace by objective necessity or just where you choose to sit. Working from home three days a week by preference does not turn your Thursday commute into a business mile.",[15,434,436],{"id":435},"why-the-recording-matters-more-than-the-rules","Why the recording matters more than the rules",[11,438,439],{},"Two people can drive identical routes and only one of them can claim, because only one of them can say what the journey was for. A date, a start, an end, a distance and a reason is what turns a drive into a claim. Reconstructing that from memory in April is where accuracy goes to die.",[11,441,442],{},"That is why Milesheet asks one question and only one: business or personal. It already knows the date, the route, the distance and how long you were stopped. You just tell it what the drive was for, ideally on the same day, when you can still remember.",[140,444],{},[11,446,447],{},[145,448,449],{},"General information for UK drivers, not tax advice. If your situation is unusual, particularly around temporary workplaces, take proper advice.",{"title":149,"searchDepth":150,"depth":150,"links":451},[452,453,454,455,456,457],{"id":353,"depth":150,"text":354},{"id":367,"depth":150,"text":368},{"id":389,"depth":150,"text":390},{"id":410,"depth":150,"text":411},{"id":428,"depth":150,"text":429},{"id":435,"depth":150,"text":436},"2026-08-05","The commute trap, the temporary workplace rule, and the everyday journeys people wrongly leave off their claim.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fwhat-counts-as-a-business-mile",{"title":345,"description":459},"blog\u002Fwhat-counts-as-a-business-mile",[169,465,466],"business travel","commuting","5lmIc2FXB_qhoVpuxPXpzxKOoFXg3VXzw_tG9Piv4BA",{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"body":469,"category":157,"date":158,"description":159,"draft":160,"extension":161,"meta":566,"navigation":163,"path":164,"readTime":165,"seo":567,"stem":167,"tags":568,"__hash__":172},{"type":8,"value":470,"toc":559},[471,473,475,477,499,501,503,513,515,517,519,523,527,531,533,535,537,539,541,551,553,555],[11,472,13],{},[15,474,18],{"id":17},[11,476,21],{},[23,478,479,483,487,491,495],{},[26,480,481,32],{},[29,482,31],{},[26,484,485],{},[29,486,37],{},[26,488,489,43],{},[29,490,42],{},[26,492,493],{},[29,494,48],{},[26,496,497,54],{},[29,498,53],{},[11,500,57],{},[15,502,61],{"id":60},[23,504,505,509],{},[26,506,507,69],{},[29,508,68],{},[26,510,511,75],{},[29,512,74],{},[11,514,78],{},[15,516,82],{"id":81},[11,518,85],{},[11,520,521,91],{},[29,522,90],{},[11,524,525,97],{},[29,526,96],{},[11,528,529,103],{},[29,530,102],{},[15,532,107],{"id":106},[11,534,110],{},[11,536,113],{},[15,538,117],{"id":116},[11,540,120],{},[122,542,543,545,547,549],{},[26,544,126],{},[26,546,129],{},[26,548,132],{},[26,550,135],{},[11,552,138],{},[140,554],{},[11,556,557],{},[145,558,147],{},{"title":149,"searchDepth":150,"depth":150,"links":560},[561,562,563,564,565],{"id":17,"depth":150,"text":18},{"id":60,"depth":150,"text":61},{"id":81,"depth":150,"text":82},{"id":106,"depth":150,"text":107},{"id":116,"depth":150,"text":117},{},{"title":5,"description":159},[169,170,171],{"id":570,"title":571,"author":6,"body":572,"category":157,"date":694,"description":695,"draft":160,"extension":161,"meta":696,"navigation":163,"path":697,"readTime":698,"seo":699,"stem":700,"tags":701,"__hash__":704},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fparking-tolls-and-charges.md","Parking, tolls and charges: what else you can claim",{"type":8,"value":573,"toc":688},[574,577,581,613,616,620,650,654,657,660,663,667,678,681,683],[11,575,576],{},"The approved mileage rate covers the cost of running the car: fuel, wear, servicing, insurance, depreciation. It does not cover what you spend on the way. Those are separate, claimable, and routinely forgotten.",[15,578,580],{"id":579},"costs-that-usually-go-on-top","Costs that usually go on top",[23,582,583,589,595,601,607],{},[26,584,585,588],{},[29,586,587],{},"Parking"," at the destination of a business journey",[26,590,591,594],{},[29,592,593],{},"Tolls"," and bridge charges",[26,596,597,600],{},[29,598,599],{},"Congestion charge",", where the journey was business",[26,602,603,606],{},[29,604,605],{},"Clean-air and low-emission zone charges"," for a business trip",[26,608,609,612],{},[29,610,611],{},"Ferry crossings"," where they form part of the journey",[11,614,615],{},"Each of these is claimable in its own right, in addition to the pence-per-mile. Keep the receipt and note which journey it belongs to.",[15,617,619],{"id":618},"costs-that-do-not","Costs that do not",[23,621,622,628,634,644],{},[26,623,624,627],{},[29,625,626],{},"Parking fines and speeding tickets."," Never allowable, however the ticket came about.",[26,629,630,633],{},[29,631,632],{},"Anything on your commute."," If the journey is not business travel, its parking is not either.",[26,635,636,639,640,643],{},[29,637,638],{},"Fuel, on top of mileage."," You cannot claim the approved rate ",[145,641,642],{},"and"," the petrol. The rate already includes it. Claiming both is a genuine and expensive error.",[26,645,646,649],{},[29,647,648],{},"Personal detours."," If you paid to park while doing something personal, that is yours.",[15,651,653],{"id":652},"the-evidence-problem","The evidence problem",[11,655,656],{},"Parking is where records fall apart, because so much of it is now a card tap or an app payment with no paper at all. Three months later you have a bank line that says \"RingGo\" and no idea which site it was or why you were there.",[11,658,659],{},"The fix is to capture it at the moment of payment. A photo of the receipt or the machine, attached to the journey it belongs to, does the job. If there is no paper, note the amount and the reason while you are still standing there.",[11,661,662],{},"Milesheet keeps these against the trip itself: pick the type, enter the amount, and add a photo if you have one. The photo is copied into the app's own storage, so it survives you clearing out your camera roll. The totals then flow through into your monthly and tax-year statements, and appear as their own section in the exported PDF, clearly separated from the mileage claim.",[15,664,666],{"id":665},"if-you-are-self-employed","If you are self-employed",[11,668,669,670,673,674,677],{},"You have a choice per vehicle: ",[29,671,672],{},"simplified expenses"," (the flat pence-per-mile) or ",[29,675,676],{},"actual costs"," (a business proportion of fuel, insurance, servicing, capital allowances and so on). You cannot mix the two for the same vehicle, and once you have chosen for a particular car you must keep to that method for as long as you have it.",[11,679,680],{},"Parking, tolls and charges sit outside that choice: they are claimable either way.",[140,682],{},[11,684,685],{},[145,686,687],{},"General information for UK drivers, not tax advice. Check anything unusual with HMRC or your accountant.",{"title":149,"searchDepth":150,"depth":150,"links":689},[690,691,692,693],{"id":579,"depth":150,"text":580},{"id":618,"depth":150,"text":619},{"id":652,"depth":150,"text":653},{"id":665,"depth":150,"text":666},"2026-07-02","Mileage is not the whole claim. The out-of-pocket costs that ride along with a business journey, and the ones that never qualify.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fparking-tolls-and-charges",4,{"title":571,"description":695},"blog\u002Fparking-tolls-and-charges",[169,702,703],"expenses","receipts","uvt3rPyFJMZzR8x18hBXEgEOpeKD4jC7CczJNfzVePc",1787093540735]