Making Tax Digital for Self-Employed Drivers: What Your Mileage Records Need

You drive for a living — parcels, food, private hire, a van round, visits to clients — and you file a Self Assessment return. Someone has told you that from next April you need “MTD software”, and you want to know two things: does this apply to you, and what happens to the mileage you claim?

The short answer: if your turnover from self-employment and property was over £50,000, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax already applies from 6 April 2026. Over £30,000, it starts on 6 April 2027. Over £20,000, on 6 April 2028. From then you keep your income and expenses as digital records and send HMRC a short update every quarter, as well as your tax return at the end of the year. Your mileage claim does not change — the simplified rate is still 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles in 2026 to 2027 and 25p after — but the way you record it does.

Does it apply to you? It is turnover, not profit

HMRC's test is your qualifying income: “your total income from self-employment and property. This is the amount before expenses (also known as turnover).” That trips drivers up more than anyone, because a car is expensive. A courier who takes £34,000 in a year and spends £12,000 on fuel, insurance and the van has a profit of £22,000 and a turnover of £34,000. For MTD, the number that counts is £34,000.

If you also let out a property, the rent is added in. Wages from a job are not. HMRC works it out from a Self Assessment return you have already filed, and it says you should check your own figure rather than wait for a letter.

Qualifying income (turnover)	You use Making Tax Digital from
Over £50,000	6 April 2026
Over £30,000	6 April 2027
Over £20,000	6 April 2028

What actually changes

Three things, and only three.

1. Your records become digital records. For every income and expense you record the amount, the date, and the category, in software. HMRC asks you to create each record “as close to the date of the transaction as possible”, and in any case before you send the quarterly update it belongs to. A shoebox of receipts typed up in January no longer meets the rule. If your turnover is under £90,000 you only need to say whether each transaction is income or an expense, not which expense category.

2. You send a quarterly update. The update carries totals for each category, not the records themselves — HMRC says it “will not receive details of individual digital records, such as a receipt or invoice”. The periods are cumulative: each one runs from the start of the tax year to the end of that quarter.

Update	Covers (standard periods)	Send by
1	6 April to 5 July	7 August
2	6 April to 5 October	7 November
3	6 April to 5 January	7 February
4	6 April to 5 April	7 May

You can instead choose calendar periods that start on 1 April and end on the last day of June, September, December and March. The deadlines are the same. Only use them if you have chosen them with HMRC.

3. You still file a tax return at the end of the year, and HMRC says you have to have sent the quarterly updates first. For 2026 to 2027 only, HMRC will not apply penalty points for late quarterly updates.

Where the car fits

As a sole trader you choose one of two ways to claim for a car or van, and MTD does not change the choice:

• Simplified expenses (the mileage rate). You claim a flat amount per business mile: 55p for the first 10,000 miles in 2026 to 2027 (45p before 6 April 2026), then 25p. Motorcycles are 24p. The flat rate replaces the actual costs of buying and running the vehicle — fuel, insurance, repairs, servicing — so you do not claim those as well. Parking and other travel costs, such as train fares, are still claimable on top. It is not available for cars designed for commercial use — HMRC names black cabs, hackney carriages and dual-control driving instructors' cars — or for a vehicle you have already claimed capital allowances on, and once you use it for a vehicle you keep using it for as long as you use that vehicle for the business.
• Actual costs. You claim the business share of what the vehicle really cost to run, plus capital allowances on the vehicle itself. Your records then need the costs, and a way to prove the business share — which is still a mileage log.

Either way you need a record of your business miles. What MTD adds is that the claim itself becomes a digital record with a date, an amount and a category. Keeping it trip by trip is the shape that answers every question later: each trip has a date, a distance, a purpose, and the amount it is worth. It also puts the 10,000-mile boundary on the right trip, which matters because the rate changes part-way through the year for anyone who drives more than that.

If you are unsure which method you are on, the HMRC mileage rates page explains the difference for employees and the self-employed, and mileage deductions in the UK, Canada and Australia shows how the band works on a single long trip.

One app for the records, another to file

You do not need one program that does everything. HMRC's software guidance says: “you can choose to use more than one software product, but you can only use one product for each separate submission that you need to make to HMRC.” The usual split is a record-keeping tool plus bridging software, which HMRC describes as software that “will connect to existing records kept in spreadsheets or other accounting tools” and sends the update.

The rule that matters is the digital link. If you use more than one product, they have to be linked digitally — HMRC gives “XML, CSV importing and exporting” and linked spreadsheet cells as examples. Exporting a CSV from one and importing it into the other is fine. Reading a total off one screen and typing it into another is not.

HMRC keeps a list of recognised software on GOV.UK. Check that the bridging tool you pick is on it and can import a CSV.

How TaxMiles keeps the mileage half

With your region set to the United Kingdom, TaxMiles records trips automatically, rates them at 55p and 25p on the 6 April tax year, and splits a trip that crosses the 10,000-mile line. In the Taxes tab, the Tax Toolkit has a Making Tax Digital screen that adds everything up for each quarterly period and exports two CSV files:

• Quarterly totals — cumulative from the start of the tax year, in HMRC's self-employment categories, with the field names HMRC's quarterly update uses so bridging software can map them. Mileage lands in car, van and travel expenses. If turnover is under £90,000 it also shows a single total for expenses.
• Digital records — one row per transaction: date, amount, HMRC category, and a description (for a trip, the distance, purpose and route).

Two things it does on purpose. Fuel, insurance and servicing you logged in the app are listed but not claimed, because the simplified rate already covers them and claiming both would be double-counting. Parking and tolls are included. And it lets you pick standard or calendar periods, because the totals are different.

What it does not do: it is not HMRC-recognised, and it does not send anything to HMRC. It only knows about income you record in it and costs you log in it, so anything else your business earns or spends has to be added in your bridging software or kept elsewhere. If you claim actual costs and capital allowances instead of the mileage rate, its totals are built on the wrong method for you; use the log for your business-use percentage and let your accountant do the rest. The export is part of TaxMiles Pro.

Who this is not for

• Employees who drive for their employer. MTD for Income Tax is for self-employment and property income. Employee mileage runs through Approved Mileage Allowance Payments and Mileage Allowance Relief.
• Anyone whose accounts already live in full MTD software that tracks mileage. One product is simpler than two; add a tracker only if the one you have does not log trips well.
• Black cab and hackney carriage drivers. Your vehicle cannot use the mileage rate, so the totals TaxMiles produces are not your claim. A trip log still helps prove the business share of actual costs.
• Landlords. This page is about driving. Property income has its own categories.

If you start in April 2027: a timeline

• Now to March 2027. Check your turnover on your last return. Pick your record-keeping and filing tools and make sure the CSV goes from one to the other before it matters.
• 6 April 2027. Start creating digital records. Note your odometer on the day; it is the cleanest first entry you will ever make.
• 7 August 2027. First quarterly update, covering 6 April to 5 July.
• 7 May 2028. Fourth update. Then the tax return for 2027 to 2028.

Frequently asked questions

Is the £30,000 threshold my profit or my turnover?

Turnover. HMRC defines qualifying income as your total income from self-employment and property before expenses. A driver who takes £34,000 in fares and spends £12,000 running the car is over the threshold even though the profit is £22,000.

Do I have to send HMRC every trip?

No. HMRC says quarterly updates carry totals for each income and expense category, not individual records such as a receipt or invoice. You keep the individual records; the update carries the totals.

Can I keep my records in one app and file with another?

Yes. HMRC says you can use more than one software product, as long as you use one product for each submission and the products are digitally linked. A CSV file exported from one and imported into the other is a digital link; retyping the totals by hand is not.

Is TaxMiles HMRC-recognised software?

No. TaxMiles keeps the mileage and expense records and adds them up in HMRC's categories. It does not submit anything to HMRC. You send the quarterly update with HMRC-recognised software, for example bridging software that imports the TaxMiles CSV.

What happens if I send a quarterly update late in 2026 to 2027?

HMRC says it will not apply penalty points for late quarterly updates during the 2026 to 2027 tax year. You still have to send the updates before you can submit your tax return for that year.

Sources, all on GOV.UK: find out if and when you need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, work out your qualifying income, create digital records, send quarterly updates, choose the right software, and simplified expenses for vehicles. Checked 22 September 2026.

Related reading: HMRC mileage rates for 2026/27, mileage deductions in the UK, Canada and Australia, the odometer photo habit, and switching mileage apps without losing your log.