If you use your own car for work and your employer pays less than the approved mileage rate, or nothing at all, you can claim the difference as tax relief. We calculate it and reclaim what you are owed, up to four years back.
Mileage Allowance Relief
HMRC's approved mileage rates let employers reimburse business travel in your own car tax-free, at 45p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles and 25p thereafter. If your employer pays less than this, or does not pay for business mileage at all, you can claim Mileage Allowance Relief on the shortfall, reducing your tax. Business mileage does not include your normal commute, but it does cover travel to temporary workplaces and between sites.
Your Tax Help Accountants works out your business mileage, compares what your employer paid against the approved rates, and claims the tax relief on the difference, backdated up to four years. For people who drive a lot for work in their own car and are under-reimbursed, this can be a significant refund that is easily missed.
If you drive your own car to temporary workplaces or between sites and your employer pays less than 45p a mile, the untaxed shortfall can be claimed back. Over several years and thousands of miles, that adds up to a real refund.
The Detail That Matters
If you use your own car for work and your employer pays less than HMRC's approved mileage rates, or nothing at all, you can claim the difference as tax relief. Many employees are owed money here and never claim it.
HMRC's approved rates are 45p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles in a tax year and 25p thereafter (24p for motorcycles). If your employer reimburses at these rates, there is no tax to pay and nothing to claim; if they pay less, you can claim relief on the shortfall.
You work out what you could have received at the approved rates, subtract what your employer actually paid, and claim tax relief on the difference at your marginal rate. Over a year of business mileage, the shortfall can be substantial.
Travel to temporary workplaces and between jobs counts; your ordinary commute to a permanent workplace does not. Keeping a simple mileage log of dates, journeys and reasons supports the claim if HMRC asks.
Claims can be backdated four years, so employees who have been under-reimbursed for years can recover a lump sum. We calculate the shortfall, prepare the claim, and make sure your records support it.
The commonest miss is an employee reimbursed at, say, 25p a mile who does not realise they can claim relief on the 20p-per-mile gap up to the 45p approved rate, which across thousands of miles is real money left with HMRC.
Key Figures
How We Help
We work out your business mileage and compare what you were paid against the approved 45p and 25p rates, claiming relief on the difference.
Travel to temporary workplaces and between sites qualifies; your ordinary commute does not. We identify exactly which journeys count so the claim is right.
Claims can usually be backdated up to four tax years. For high-mileage employees this often recovers a substantial refund.
All the forms, calculations and correspondence handled on your behalf, so you never have to decode HMRC's rules or sit on hold.
A clear fixed fee quoted after a free call, your position explained in plain English, and never a surprise bill.
We act quickly, and where earlier years are involved we put those right too, reclaiming refunds or minimising penalties.
Employees who use their own cars and are under-reimbursed frequently miss this relief entirely, or use claims firms that take a cut. The rules on what counts as business travel are specific. We make an accurate, defensible claim and you keep the whole refund.
Recent Client Outcome
An employee drove 11,000 business miles a year but was reimbursed by their employer at only 20p a mile.
What we did. We calculated the approved amount, 10,000 miles at 45p plus 1,000 at 25p, giving £4,750, and subtracted the £2,200 actually paid, leaving a £2,550 shortfall eligible for relief.
The outcome. As a higher-rate taxpayer they claimed 40% relief on the £2,550, worth over £1,000 a year, and we backdated the claim across the previous years they had been under-reimbursed.
The mileage was already being driven and logged; claiming the relief simply recovered tax they were entitled to but had never asked for.
Why People Come to Us
Questions Answered
Free fifteen-minute call. Fixed quote within twenty-four hours. Your return filed, every expense claimed, your bill explained, and salon VAT, payroll and accounts handled if you own a salon. Same accountant, start to finish.
Or email info@yourtaxhelp.co.uk, we typically respond within two business hours.
📅 Free consultation calls available weekdays 1pm to 3pm and 7pm to 8pm. Pick a slot that suits you.