Is it 45p or 55p a mile? What a self-employed courier's mile really costs

Short answer: it’s 55p a mile now. Since 6 April 2026 the HMRC flat rate for self-employed drivers is 55p for the first 10,000 business miles in a tax year and 25p for every mile after that. The old 45p still applies to miles driven up to 5 April 2026. Is it enough? In an older car, yes: a mile costs you roughly 30p to 35p. In a new car or a van, no: a mile costs 50p or more, and the rate drops to 25p just when a full-time courier passes 10,000 miles.

Which rate applies to which miles

Cars and vans get the same rate. Motorcycles get 24p for every mile. The tax return due by 31 January 2027 covers 2025–26, so it still uses 45p.

This is the first rise since 2011. The government announced it in May 2026 and backdated it to 6 April. It has also promised to set out a review of the rates for later years at the Budget on 28 October 2026, so check again after that date.

It’s a tax deduction, not a payment

Nobody pays you 55p a mile. Parcel companies pay per parcel, per stop or per block, and Evri’s courier FAQ says fuel is a cost couriers cover themselves.

The flat rate is what you take off your profit before tax, instead of adding up what the vehicle really cost. It stands in for fuel, oil, servicing, repairs, insurance, road tax, the MOT and the value the vehicle loses. Parking, tolls and congestion charges for business trips can be claimed on top.

Three rules to know:

• Business miles only. Keep a mileage log as you go. Private trips, such as ordinary travel from home to work, don’t count.
• One method per vehicle. Once you use the flat rate for a vehicle, you keep using it for as long as that vehicle is in your business.
• Not after capital allowances. If you’ve claimed them on the vehicle, or deducted a van’s cost under the cash basis, you can’t use the flat rate for it.

What the flat rate is worth over a year

Because of the drop to 25p, each mile is worth less the more you drive:

Vans used mainly for deliveries cover 21,200 miles a year on average, a government survey found. At that mileage the flat rate works out at 39p a mile.

What a mile really costs

We priced three vehicles bought new and driven 20,000 miles a year for four years:

Then add insurance. Courier (“hire and reward”) cover for a van costs roughly £1,450 to £2,300 a year, which is another 7p to 11p a mile. That puts a new small van at about 50p a mile and a new medium van above 70p.

An older car is a different story. If your car has already lost most of its value, drop that line: fuel, servicing and tax come to about 22p a mile. Older cars break down more often. The RAC puts the average unexpected repair bill at £617 a year across cars of all ages, about 3p a mile here, so call it 25p before insurance. Every £1,000 of insurance adds 5p, which makes 30p to 35p all in. Evri’s own model, agreed with the GMB union, assumed 28.7p a mile for a courier’s expenses in 2025.

The fuel figures use official mpg. Stop-start rounds burn more, so treat them as a floor.

So is 55p enough?

• An older car you own outright: yes. At 20,000 miles the flat rate lets you claim 40p a mile against a real cost of 30p to 35p, with no receipts to add up.
• A new or financed car or van: probably not. At 20,000 miles you claim 40p against 50p to 70p. Claiming your actual costs with capital allowances may give you a bigger deduction. You choose once per vehicle, so run both sums before your first return with it. GOV.UK has a simplified expenses checker that compares the two.
• After 10,000 miles: no, for anyone. 25p covers fuel and servicing in a small car or van and little else. In a medium van it doesn’t cover even those.

The cheapest mile is the one you don’t drive

Your pay is per parcel and your costs are per mile. Cut 10 miles from a daily round and, at 30p to 50p a mile, you keep £3 to £5 a day. Over 260 working days that is £780 to £1,300 a year.

• Put your drops in a better order. A route planner finds the order with the fewest miles before you leave. MyWay Route Planner does it for up to 15 stops for free and up to 200 stops on Pro at £8.99 a month in the UK. Here is how to plan a multi-drop round from a list of postcodes.
• Know the daily charges on your patch. London’s Congestion Charge is £18 a day, and ULEZ is £12.50 a day for vehicles that don’t meet its emissions standards.

To see what each drop costs you, try the cost per stop calculator.

FAQ

Is it 45p or 55p a mile in 2026?

55p for the first 10,000 business miles driven from 6 April 2026, then 25p. 45p applies to miles driven up to 5 April 2026.

Can I claim fuel on top of the 55p?

No. The flat rate already includes fuel, insurance, repairs, servicing, road tax and the MOT. You can add parking, tolls and congestion charges for business trips.

Can I use the flat rate for a van?

Yes. Vans get the same rate as cars, unless you’ve claimed capital allowances on the van or deducted its cost under the cash basis.

Will the rate change again?

It may. The government has said it will set out a review of the rates for the years after 2026–27 at the Budget on 28 October 2026.

How we calculated

This is a cost guide, not tax advice. Check your own position with an accountant or HMRC. Everything was checked on 3 October 2026.

• Rates and rules: GOV.UK, “Simplified expenses if you’re self-employed: Vehicles”; HMRC Business Income Manual, BIM75005; HMRC policy paper “Increasing mileage rates” (17 June 2026). Budget date: the Chancellor’s letter to the Treasury Committee, 31 July 2026.
• Fuel: UK average pump prices in the week of 28 September 2026 (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero): petrol 173.46p and diesel 197.58p a litre, at each vehicle’s official combined mpg (Corsa 55.4, Transit Courier 53.3, Transit Custom 40.4).
• Servicing and value lost: Fleet News running cost calculators (Cap hpi data) for a new vehicle over 4 years and 80,000 miles. Van costs there exclude VAT.
• Road tax and MOT: GOV.UK: £200 a year for a car and £360 for a light van, from the second year; maximum MOT fee £54.85.
• Insurance: Zego (£1,450 to £2,150 a year for comprehensive courier van cover, comparison-site data for July to September 2025) and Confused.com (£2,275 on average, April to June 2026). We found no published average for cars that explains its method, so get quotes.
• Other figures: RAC on repair bills (March 2025); Evri’s letter to the Business and Trade Committee (5 March 2025) for 28.7p; Evri’s courier FAQ; Department for Transport, Van statistics 2019 to 2020; Transport for London for the Congestion Charge and ULEZ.