Travel & Mileage Claims for UK Care Workers — HMRC 45p Rate Explained

If you're a domiciliary care worker in the UK, travel is part of the job. You drive between service users' homes, cover shifts across postcodes, and accumulate serious mileage over the course of a week. Yet many care workers don't claim what they're entitled to — either because they don't know the rules, or because the paperwork feels overwhelming.

This guide breaks down the HMRC approved mileage allowance, explains the record-keeping requirements, and shows how digital tools can automate the entire process so you never miss a legitimate claim again.

The HMRC Approved Mileage Allowance

HMRC sets standard mileage rates that employers can reimburse tax-free without requiring additional evidence of actual fuel costs. For cars and vans, the rates are:

• 45p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles in the tax year
• 25p per mile for every mile above 10,000
• 24p per mile for motorcycles (all miles)
• 20p per mile for bicycles (all miles)

These are called Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs). The rates are designed to cover not just fuel but also wear and tear, insurance, road tax, and depreciation. They haven't changed since 2012, which means they don't always reflect current fuel prices — but they remain the standard HMRC accepts without question.

For a domiciliary care worker driving 200 miles per week between visits, that's approximately £90 per week at the 45p rate — or over £4,600 per year. It's a significant sum, and one that too many care workers leave unclaimed.

Who Can Claim — Employed vs Self-Employed

The claiming mechanism depends on your employment status:

Employed Care Workers (PAYE)

If your employer reimburses you at the full HMRC rate (45p/25p), no further action is needed — the payment is tax-free. However, if your employer pays less than the approved rate (for example, 20p per mile), you can claim Mileage Allowance Relief (MAR) on the difference through your self-assessment tax return or by contacting HMRC directly.

For example: you drive 12,000 business miles in a year. Your employer pays 20p per mile. The approved allowance is 45p for the first 10,000 miles (£4,500) plus 25p for the remaining 2,000 (£500) — totalling £5,000. Your employer paid you £2,400 (12,000 × 20p). You can claim tax relief on the £2,600 difference.

Self-Employed Care Workers

If you're self-employed (common for agency or bank staff registered as sole traders), you can use the simplified mileage expenses method on your self-assessment tax return. You apply the same 45p/25p rates and deduct the total from your taxable income. You cannot claim actual vehicle costs (fuel receipts, servicing, insurance) if you use simplified mileage — it's one or the other.

Record-Keeping Requirements

HMRC requires evidence to support mileage claims. If you're ever audited, you need a mileage log that shows:

• Date of each journey
• Start and end location (postcodes or addresses)
• Miles driven for each trip
• Purpose of the journey (e.g., "Visit to Mrs Thompson — personal care")
• Running total of business miles for the tax year

Crucially, your commute from home to your first client and from your last client back home does not count as business mileage — HMRC treats this as ordinary commuting unless you have no fixed workplace and your home is your base (which is common for domiciliary care workers who operate from home). If your employment contract states your home as your normal workplace, travel to the first client can qualify. Check your contract or ask your employer.

Many care workers track this in a notebook or spreadsheet. It works, but it's easy to forget entries, misrecord distances, or lose the log entirely. And when April comes round, reconstructing 12 months of travel from memory is practically impossible.

How Digital Mileage Loggers Automate This

Modern rostering software with GPS clock-in functionality can generate mileage records automatically. Here's how the workflow works when your scheduling tool supports travel tracking:

1. Clock in at each visit. The GPS coordinate is captured when you arrive at each service user's home.
2. System calculates distance. The software measures the road distance between consecutive clock-in locations using mapping data.
3. Log generated automatically. At the end of each week or pay period, you have a complete mileage log: date, start, end, miles, and the purpose is inferred from the shift assignment (client name and service type).
4. Export for claims. The log can be exported as a CSV or PDF for submission to your employer's payroll team or for attaching to your self-assessment.

This eliminates the manual burden entirely. You don't need to remember to write anything down. You don't need to Google map distances after the fact. The data is captured as a natural byproduct of clocking into your shifts.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Care workers frequently make these errors with mileage claims:

• Rounding up distances. HMRC expects accurate mileage. Use a mapping tool or odometer reading — don't estimate "about 10 miles" for every trip.
• Claiming commuting miles. Unless your home is your contractual workplace, the journey from home to your first visit (and last visit to home) isn't business mileage. All journeys between clients during the working day are.
• Mixing business and personal trips. If you stop at the supermarket between clients, deduct the detour distance from that leg of the journey.
• Not keeping records. You can technically claim without detailed records — until HMRC asks. If you can't substantiate your claim with a log, you may have to repay the tax relief plus interest.
• Forgetting carry-forward passengers. If you carry a colleague on a business trip, you can claim an additional 5p per mile per passenger. This is rarely claimed but entirely legitimate.

What Employers Need to Know

As a domiciliary care provider, reimbursing mileage correctly isn't just good for staff retention — it's a legal and tax compliance matter:

• Pay at or below AMAP rates and the reimbursement is tax-free — no National Insurance, no PAYE complications.
• Pay above AMAP rates and the excess is taxable. You must report it on form P11D and pay Class 1A NICs on the excess amount.
• Don't reimburse at all? Your workers can claim tax relief from HMRC on the full amount — but they'll likely resent the admin burden, and it's a common driver of turnover in domiciliary care.

Many providers set their rate at 45p to match HMRC exactly — it's the simplest approach. Some pay 30–35p and leave workers to claim the shortfall, which is permissible but creates friction. The best approach for retention is full AMAP reimbursement with automated mileage capture.

Tips for Accurate Tracking

1. Use GPS clock-in as your source of truth. If your rostering software captures location at each visit, let that system calculate your distances rather than doing it manually.
2. Record immediately. If you must log manually, do it at each visit — not at the end of the week. Memory fades quickly.
3. Keep your odometer reading at the start of each tax year. It gives you a cross-reference point if your total mileage is ever questioned.
4. Separate vehicles. If you sometimes use a motorcycle or bicycle, track those miles separately — the rates differ.
5. Review monthly. Spot-check your mileage log monthly to catch missing entries while your memory is fresh enough to fill gaps.

Making It Effortless

The HMRC mileage allowance exists to recognise that care workers spend significant time and money travelling between the people they support. At 45p per mile, it's not a trivial amount — a full-time domiciliary care worker can legitimately claim thousands of pounds per year.

The barrier has always been record-keeping. But with GPS-enabled rostering software that captures your location at every visit, the mileage log writes itself. No notebooks. No end-of-year panic. Just accurate, exportable records that satisfy HMRC requirements without any extra work.

Source: HMRC, Advisory fuel rates and approved mileage allowance payments, 2026