MilesheetMiles, money
and the rules.
Plain-English guides to HMRC mileage rates, what counts as a business journey, what your fuel really costs, and how to keep a log that stands up if anyone asks.
HMRC mileage rates explained: 45p, 25p and the 10,000-mile line
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.
What actually counts as a business mile?
The commute trap, the temporary workplace rule, and the everyday journeys people wrongly leave off their claim.
HMRC & taxHow to keep a mileage log that stands up
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.
Fuel & running costsReal MPG: why your car never matches the brochure
Where official economy figures come from, why the gap is normal, and how two full tanks tell you the only number that matters.
HMRC & taxParking, tolls and charges: what else you can claim
Mileage is not the whole claim. The out-of-pocket costs that ride along with a business journey, and the ones that never qualify.
Fuel & running costsNine ways to cut fuel costs on the same commute
No new car, no lifestyle change. The habits and checks that actually move the needle, roughly in order of what they are worth.
Using MilesheetSwitching mileage apps without losing the tax year
How to get your history out of another app, what to check in the export, and how to bring it into Milesheet so the 10,000-mile banding still works.
HMRC & taxThe 24p and 20p rates almost nobody claims
Motorcycles and bicycles have their own approved mileage rates, they are not banded at 10,000 miles, and most people who could claim them never do.
HMRC & taxThe 24-month rule, in plain English
When a temporary workplace quietly becomes a permanent one, why the clock can start before you notice, and what it costs when it does.
HMRC & taxThe 5p a mile almost every claim misses
HMRC pays extra for carrying colleagues on business journeys. It is optional for employers, invisible to most people, and adds up faster than you would think.
HMRC & taxMileage rate or actual costs: which is worth more to you
Self-employed drivers get a choice, it is effectively permanent for that vehicle, and the right answer depends on how much the car cost and how far you drive.
HMRC & taxCompany car or your own: what you can actually claim
Advisory Fuel Rates, approved mileage rates, and the expensive habit of confusing the two.
Fuel & running costsWhy your MPG falls off a cliff every winter
Cold engines, denser air, heated everything: the reasons a January tank goes less far than a July one, and how much of it you can do anything about.
HMRC & taxIf you work from home, where does business travel start?
Whether your house counts as a workplace, when the drive to the office becomes claimable, and why hybrid working makes this harder rather than easier.
HMRC & taxA tax year end checklist for anyone who drives for work
What to do in the fortnight before 5 April, and the three things that are much harder to fix afterwards.
Fuel & running costsWorking out what your passengers actually owe you
Petrol money without the guesswork: what a journey really cost, how to divide it fairly, and why the driver's share is the argument.
HMRC & taxElectric cars and the 45p rate
Why an EV you own claims exactly the same as a petrol car, why a company EV does not, and what that gap is worth.
HMRC & taxClaiming mileage in a van
Vans use the same 45p rate as cars, which is better news for some trades than others — and worse news than actual costs for a few.
HMRC & taxParking fees you can claim, and fines you cannot
The line between a cost of doing business and a penalty, and the small print that catches sole traders and directors differently.
HMRC & taxCongestion, ULEZ and clean air zones: what you can claim
Daily charges are a real cost of driving for work, they are claimable separately from mileage, and the rules on which vehicle pays what keep moving.
Fuel & running costsDoes your insurance actually cover driving for work?
Social, domestic and pleasure plus commuting is not business use. The distinction is small in wording and total in effect.
HMRC & taxWhat makes HMRC look twice at a mileage claim
Round numbers, impossible days, claims that never change, and the other patterns that invite a question you would rather not answer.
HMRC & taxClaiming mileage as a company director
Your own car, your own company, and the paperwork that keeps 45p a mile out of the taxman's definition of salary.
Fuel & running costsWhat 80 costs you compared with 70
Drag rises with the square of speed, so the last ten miles an hour are the expensive ones. The arithmetic, and what it is worth on a real journey.
Fuel & running costsDepreciation: the biggest cost of your car, and the one nobody counts
Fuel is the cost you feel because you pay it at a pump. For most drivers it is not the largest one.
HMRC & taxTwo jobs, one car: which journeys count
Travel between separate employments, the second-job commute, and the rule that surprises people working for connected companies.
Fuel & running costsRoof boxes, bike racks and towing: what they really cost
The bolt-ons that quietly ruin your economy, ranked by how much they cost and how easily you can stop paying for them.
HMRC & taxDriving abroad for work: what you can still claim
The approved rates do not stop at Dover, but almost everything around them changes.
HMRC & taxFuel cards and mileage claims: how they interact
A fuel card does not remove the need for a mileage log. It usually makes it more important.
HMRC & taxWhy 45p a mile has not moved since 2011
The rate was set when petrol was cheaper and cars were thirstier. It has outlasted three prime ministers and a great deal of inflation.
Using MilesheetFive habits that turn a mileage app into a claim
Installing it is not the job. These are the small things that decide whether you have a record worth filing in January.
Fuel & running costsPlanning a road trip so the money does not sour it
Agree the rules before you leave, not at a service station at eleven at night.
HMRC & taxChoosing a company car: the numbers that actually decide it
List price, CO2 and the benefit-in-kind percentage do more to your take-home than the car does to your commute.
Using MilesheetWhy Milesheet has no account, and what that costs us
Every mileage app wants a login. Here is what we gave up by not having one, and what you get in return.
HMRC & taxDriving for a charity: what volunteers can claim
Volunteer drivers are not employees, the rates are not quite the same conversation, and a lot of people are out of pocket unnecessarily.
HMRC & taxContracting: the travel rules that cost the most to get wrong
Site-based work, the 24-month clock, and why the first day of a contract can decide whether any of the travel is claimable.
HMRC & taxPool cars: the rules that make one work
A genuine pool car carries no benefit-in-kind charge. Most cars businesses call pool cars are not pool cars.
Using MilesheetGetting a year of driving into Milesheet after the fact
You started in October and the tax year began in April. Here is how to make the first half of the year count.
Fuel & running costsThe economics of always being the one who drives
If you are the designated driver every time, you are subsidising the evening. What that is actually worth, and how to raise it without being awkward.
HMRC & taxClean air zones: which cities charge, and who pays
Not every zone charges every vehicle. The class of the zone decides whether your car, van or taxi pays anything at all.
HMRC & taxMileage for trades: eleven drops a day and no time to write anything down
The people with the most business mileage are the least able to record it as it happens. That is a solvable problem.
HMRC & taxVAT and mileage: the bit most businesses miss
If you are VAT registered and paying mileage, there is input tax buried in the fuel element — but only if you keep the receipts.
Using MilesheetWhy sorting trips is a card deck and not a list
The design decision that determines whether anyone actually keeps a mileage log.
HMRC & taxSalary sacrifice car schemes: what to check before you sign
The tax treatment makes electric cars unusually attractive through sacrifice. The commitment is longer than most people focus on.
Fuel & running costsFour people, one car, a field: splitting a festival run
The trip where costs are highest, plans change most, and nobody has any signal to work anything out.
Driving & the lawSmart motorways: what the rules actually are
New schemes were cancelled, but hundreds of miles remain. What a red X means, where the refuges are, and what to do if you stop in a live lane.
Driving & the lawYour van is not allowed to do 70 on that road
Vans and cars towing have lower national speed limits than cars, on single and dual carriageways. Most drivers have no idea.
Driving & the lawThe phone rules are stricter than most drivers think
Holding it at all is the offence now. Six points, and for newer drivers that is the licence.
Driving & the lawTyres: the legal minimum, and why it is not the sensible one
1.6mm is the law. Braking distances start deteriorating well before that, and four illegal tyres is twelve points.
Driving & the lawThe Highway Code changed, and most drivers never read it
A hierarchy of road users, priority for pedestrians at junctions, and the Dutch reach. Three years on, the changes are still news to people.
Driving & the lawAn MOT is not proof your van was roadworthy
The test is one day a year. The obligation is every day, and for work vehicles it reaches the employer too.
HMRC & tax45p or 70 cents: how the UK and US pay for business miles
Two countries, two systems, and a gap that is smaller than the exchange rate makes it look.
Driving & the lawWhat a British driver notices in America
Right on red, four-way stops, undertaking as standard, and roads built on an entirely different assumption.
Driving & the lawWhy Britain barely tolls its motorways
One tolled motorway, a handful of crossings, and a funding model completely unlike the American turnpike.
Driving & the lawWhy a road scheme takes twenty years in Britain
Road Investment Strategies, development consent, and the reason the A303 has been a plan for longer than most drivers have held a licence.
Driving & the lawThe Dartford Crossing: how the charge works and what it costs a business
There is no barrier, the charge is not a toll booth, and missing the deadline turns £2.50 into a penalty.
Driving & the lawDriving into London for work: the charges, stacked
Congestion charge, ULEZ, parking and the arithmetic that often makes the train cheaper — and sometimes does not.
Driving & the lawIs the M6 Toll worth it?
Britain's only tolled motorway, the time it actually saves, and the arithmetic for someone whose hours are chargeable.
Driving & the lawAverage speed cameras: how they actually work
Not a flash, not one camera, and the myths about lane-changing are wrong. What they measure and why roadworks use them.
Driving & the lawChecking that your drivers can actually drive
Licence checks, the share code system, and the grey fleet nobody thinks is their responsibility.
Driving & the lawWinter driving when it is not optional
Everyone else can stay at home. If the job is at the other end, here is what actually helps.
Using MilesheetWhat happens to your trip if you swipe the app away
The failure mode every background-recording app has, and what an honest one does about it.
Using MilesheetWhy your app's mileage never quite matches your odometer
GPS drift, straight lines between points, and which of the two numbers is actually right.
HMRC & taxCommunity care: forty short visits and nobody counting
Care workers and community nurses cover serious mileage in five-minute hops, and it is the most under-recorded driving in the country.
HMRC & taxYour employer pays 25p. Here is how to claim the rest
Mileage Allowance Relief is the most commonly unclaimed thing in the UK tax system, and it takes about ten minutes.
Driving & the lawTaking your car to Europe: what you need now
GB or UK stickers, insurance, and the documents that turn a border into an hour.
Fuel & running costsCharging an EV on the road costs more than you think
Home charging is cheap. Rapid charging on a motorway is not, and the gap changes what a business trip actually costs.
HMRC & taxTerritory driving: when 25,000 miles a year is the job
The 10,000-mile threshold arrives in May, the car wears out in three years, and the arithmetic is different from everyone else's.
Driving & the lawNobody agrees about roundabouts, and the Code is clearer than you think
Lane choice, signalling, and the spiral markings that catch out drivers who have used the same junction for years.