Travel Costs and Mileage

Quick start: claiming mileage using HMRC's standard rates

Most landlords claim mileage using HMRC's flat rates. This is the simplest method and covers all your vehicle running costs.

HMRC's flat rates (2024/25):

  • 45p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles in the tax year
  • 25p per mile for each additional mile over 10,000

How to claim using flat rates in Provestor:

  1. Keep your own mileage log showing the date, destination, purpose, and miles for each business journey
  2. At the end of each month or quarter, calculate your total claim (multiply miles by the appropriate rate)
  3. In Provestor, add an expense in your Cash account for the total amount you're claiming
  4. Categorise it as "Travel costs"
  5. Add a description like "Mileage claim: April (234 miles @ 45p = £105.30)"

You keep the mileage log separately — you don't upload it to Provestor. HMRC may ask to see it if they review your records.

What the flat rate covers: The 45p/25p rates cover all vehicle running costs including fuel, insurance, servicing, repairs, road tax, MOT, and depreciation. You can still claim parking charges and tolls separately as additional expenses.

If this doesn't cover your situation — for example, if you're considering claiming actual costs instead of the flat rate, or you're unsure what qualifies as business travel — read the detailed guidance below.

When you can claim travel costs

You can claim travel costs for journeys made wholly and exclusively for your property business. The journey must have a clear business purpose with no personal element.

HMRC applies the "wholly and exclusively" test to travel expenses. If a journey has any private purpose, you cannot claim the cost. If you make business and personal stops on the same trip, you'll need to apportion the cost or exclude the personal element entirely.

See Personal use and mixed expenses for detailed guidance on the wholly and exclusively test and how to handle mixed journeys.

What qualifies as business travel

You can claim travel for:

  • Visiting properties to carry out inspections or arrange repairs
  • Meeting tenants or prospective tenants
  • Collecting rent in person (where necessary)
  • Visiting suppliers such as DIY shops or meeting tradespeople
  • Meeting with letting agents or property managers
  • Travelling to deal with property emergencies

All of these must be journeys you make specifically for the property business. If you combine a business visit with personal errands, you'll need to separate the two.

You cannot claim for:

  • Commuting from home to a fixed place of work
  • Travel for personal reasons
  • Detours or additional mileage for personal errands
  • Travel that's not directly related to the rental business

Tip

If you make a round trip from home to visit a property and return home, that's fully claimable as long as the sole purpose was the property business. HMRC doesn't treat this as commuting because you don't have a fixed workplace.

Two ways to claim vehicle costs

HMRC lets you choose between two methods for claiming vehicle costs. You must pick one and use it consistently for the entire tax year for each vehicle.

Option 1: HMRC flat rate mileage allowance

Claim a fixed rate per business mile travelled. This is simpler and requires less record keeping.

Current rates (2024/25):

  • 45p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles
  • 25p per mile for each additional mile over 10,000

These rates apply to cars and vans. Motorcycles and bicycles have different rates — see HMRC's guidance for those.

What the flat rate covers:

The mileage allowance covers all vehicle running costs including fuel, insurance, road tax, servicing, repairs, MOT, breakdown cover, and depreciation. You cannot claim these costs separately if you use the flat rate.

What you can still claim separately:

  • Parking charges (at properties, suppliers, or appointments)
  • Toll charges and congestion charges
  • Vehicle hire costs (if you hire a vehicle specifically for business travel)

Record keeping:

You need to keep a mileage log showing the date, destination, purpose, and miles for each business journey.

Option 2: Actual costs

Claim the actual expenses you incur running the vehicle, apportioned for business use.

Allowable costs include:

  • Fuel
  • Insurance
  • Road tax
  • Servicing and repairs
  • MOT and breakdown cover
  • Depreciation (the reduction in the vehicle's value, not the original purchase cost)

You cannot claim:

  • The capital cost of buying the vehicle
  • Fines or parking tickets
  • Personal use portions

How to apportion:

If you use the vehicle for both business and personal travel, you must split the costs based on business mileage as a proportion of total mileage.

For example, if you drove 15,000 miles in total and 3,000 were for business, you can claim 3,000 ÷ 15,000 = 20% of your vehicle costs.

Record keeping:

You need to keep all receipts for vehicle expenses, plus a mileage log showing business mileage and total mileage for the year. The apportionment calculation must be justifiable if HMRC reviews your records.

Which method should you choose?

Flat rate is simpler:

Most landlords use the flat rate because it's straightforward. You track mileage and claim a fixed amount per mile. No receipts needed for vehicle costs.

Good for landlords with:

  • Lower business mileage (a few hundred to a few thousand miles per year)
  • Vehicles used mostly for personal journeys
  • Simple record keeping preferences

Actual costs may give a higher claim:

If you use your vehicle heavily for the property business, or you drive an expensive vehicle, actual costs may result in a larger deduction.

Consider actual costs if:

  • You do high business mileage relative to total mileage
  • You run an expensive or specialist vehicle
  • Your actual running costs significantly exceed the flat rate

Example comparison:

Suppose you drive 5,000 business miles in the year and your actual vehicle costs are £4,000 (of which 40% is business use based on mileage).

  • Flat rate claim: 5,000 miles × 45p = £2,250
  • Actual costs claim: £4,000 × 40% = £1,600

In this case, the flat rate gives a higher deduction. But if your actual costs were higher or your business proportion was greater, actual costs might win.

You can't switch mid-year:

Once you choose a method for a vehicle, you must use it for the entire tax year. You can switch to a different method in future years, but you cannot alternate quarterly.

Other travel expenses (non-vehicle)

You can claim other forms of business travel, as long as they're wholly and exclusively for your property business.

Allowable travel costs:

  • Public transport (train, bus, taxi, tube, tram)
  • Parking charges (at properties, suppliers, appointments)
  • Toll charges and congestion charges
  • Hotel accommodation if an overnight stay is required for business purposes
  • Meals during overnight business trips (reasonable amounts)

Not allowable:

  • Meals during day trips (unless overnight stay required)
  • Travel that includes personal purposes
  • Commuting to a fixed place of work

All travel expenses must pass the wholly and exclusively test. If HMRC reviews your records, you'll need to show the business purpose for each journey.

Records you must keep

HMRC expects you to log journeys as you make them, not reconstruct them months later.

Mileage log (for flat rate or actual costs):

Your log should show:

  • Date of journey
  • Destination (which property, supplier, or appointment)
  • Purpose of journey (e.g. "Inspect boiler repair at 12 Oak Street")
  • Miles travelled (round trip)

Odometer readings (for actual costs only):

Record your vehicle's odometer reading at the start and end of each tax year. This proves total mileage and supports your business/personal split.

Receipts (for actual costs only):

If you claim actual costs, keep all receipts for fuel, insurance, servicing, repairs, road tax, MOT, and breakdown cover.

HMRC may ask to see these records:

Travel costs are a common area for HMRC enquiries. Retrospective logs created months after the journeys are less credible than logs kept at the time. Use a notebook, spreadsheet, or mileage tracking app to record journeys as you make them.

Common scenarios

Single journey visiting multiple properties

If you visit three properties in one trip, the entire journey is claimable. You're not making separate personal stops, so the whole trip is for business purposes.

Journey with business and personal stops

If you visit a property and then stop at a supermarket for personal shopping, you need to separate the two. Either:

  • Claim only the business portion (home → property → home), or
  • Apportion the mileage if the personal stop was genuinely on the way

HMRC expects you to be reasonable. If the personal element is minimal and incidental, it may not affect the claim. But if you make a significant detour for personal reasons, exclude that mileage.

See Personal use and mixed expenses for detailed guidance on handling mixed journeys.

Round trip from home to property and back

Fully claimable, as long as the sole purpose is visiting the property for business reasons. This is not commuting because you don't have a fixed workplace.

Recording travel costs in Provestor

For flat rate mileage claims:

  1. Keep your mileage log separately (spreadsheet, notebook, or app)
  2. At the end of each month or quarter, calculate your total claim
    • Example: 234 miles @ 45p = £105.30
  3. In Provestor, add an expense in your Cash account
  4. Categorise it as "Travel costs"
  5. Add a clear description: "Mileage claim: April (234 miles @ 45p = £105.30)"

The mileage log stays with your other records. You don't upload it to Provestor, but you must keep it in case HMRC asks to see it.

For actual vehicle costs:

Record each expense as you pay it:

  • Fuel, insurance, servicing, repairs, road tax → Categorise as "Travel costs"
  • Calculate the business portion of each expense as you record it and enter only the allowable amount. Add a note explaining the apportionment (e.g. "Fuel £60, business use 40% = £24").
  • If you need to adjust the apportionment at the end of the year, you can edit the transactions and resubmit your Q4 quarterly update.

Parking and tolls:

Record these as separate expenses under "Travel costs" as you pay them. These are allowable regardless of which vehicle cost method you use.

See Capturing expenses for step-by-step guidance on adding expenses in Provestor.

HMRC compliance

Travel costs are a common area for HMRC enquiries. To avoid issues:

Keep records as you complete journeys:

Log journeys as you make them. Retrospective logs created weeks or months later are less credible and may be challenged.

Be able to evidence the business purpose:

Your mileage log should show what each journey was for. "Visit to property" is fine, but "Inspect heating repair at 12 Church Lane" is better.

Don't overclaim:

Only claim journeys that are genuinely and solely for business. If HMRC finds you've claimed personal journeys, they may disallow the entire claim and impose penalties.

Understand what's not allowed:

Commuting, personal errands, and journeys with mixed purposes are common mistakes. If you're unsure, err on the side of caution or seek advice.

HMRC sources and further guidance

HMRC provides detailed guidance on travel expenses for property businesses:

PreviousPersonal Use & Mixed
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