If you use your own vehicle for business journeys, then you may be able to claim a tax-free allowance from your employer known as a Mileage Allowance Payment or MAP. The allowance is available if employees use their own car, van, motorcycle or bike for work purposes. It is important to note that this tax-free allowance is not available for journeys from home to work, but it is available where employees use their own vehicles to undertake other business-related trips. 

Employers usually make payments based on a set rate per mile depending on the mode of transport used. There are approved mileage rates published by HMRC. For cars, the approved mileage allowance payment for the first 10,000 business miles is 45p per mile and 25p per mile for every additional business mile. An equivalent payment of 20p per mile is available for bicycle travel and 24p per mile for motorcycle travel. 

If an employee travels with business colleagues, they can claim an additional 5p per passenger per business mile for each qualifying passenger.

Planning note... Where an employer pays less than the published rates, the employee can make a tax claim for the shortfall using Mileage Allowance Relief (MAR). There is no equivalent to MAR for passenger payments.