Business Mileage Rates Are Rising: Why Accurate Journey Records Matter More Than Ever

Following the Autumn Budget 2026, changes to business mileage allowances are giving self-employed drivers and businesses another reason to take their mileage records seriously.

If you use your own car or van for business, how accurately do you record your journeys?

For many self-employed tradespeople and small business owners, keeping track of mileage is one of those jobs that gets pushed to the bottom of the list.

You're busy visiting customers, collecting materials, travelling between sites and keeping your business running.

By the end of the week, remembering exactly where you've been — and which journeys were for work — isn't always easy.

But following the Autumn Budget on 28 October 2026, accurate mileage records deserve a little more attention.

What changed in the Autumn Budget?

The government confirmed changes to the approved mileage rates used for qualifying business journeys in privately owned cars and vans.

For the 2026/27 tax year, the rate for the first 10,000 qualifying business miles increased from 45p to 55p per mile.

The October Budget also announced that, from 6 April 2027, the rate for qualifying business mileage above 10,000 miles will rise from 25p to 35p per mile.

These rates are relevant to approved mileage reimbursements for employees using their own vehicles and to eligible self-employed people using simplified mileage expenses.

They do not automatically apply to every business vehicle or every journey.

For drivers covering substantial qualifying business mileage, the changes could make accurate records even more important.

Source: HM Treasury, Autumn Budget 2026.

What could the new mileage rates mean in practice?

Consider someone who drives 15,000 qualifying business miles during a tax year.

Under the 2026/27 rates:

• First 10,000 miles at 55p = £5,500

• Remaining 5,000 miles at 25p = £1,250

• Total approved mileage amount = £6,750

Under the announced rates from April 2027:

• First 10,000 miles at 55p = £5,500

• Remaining 5,000 miles at 35p = £1,750

• Total approved mileage amount = £7,250

That's a difference of £500 in the calculated mileage amount.

However, it does not necessarily mean £500 more in someone's pocket.

For an eligible self-employed person using simplified expenses, mileage is used to calculate a deduction against taxable business profits, rather than a direct repayment of the full amount.

For employees, the tax treatment depends on their circumstances and any mileage reimbursement provided by their employer.

The problem with relying on memory

Imagine you're a self-employed electrician.

During a typical week, you might travel between several customer properties, visit a wholesaler, collect equipment and return to a job you couldn't finish the previous day.

Some journeys may qualify as business mileage. Others may be private or ordinary commuting.

If you try to reconstruct everything at the end of the month, it's easy to forget a journey or incorrectly classify one.

And if you use the same vehicle for work and personal travel, separating the two can become even more complicated.

This is where keeping organised journey records can help.

How GPS tracking can help organise business mileage

A GPS tracker records vehicle movements, giving you access to historical journey information.

With Global Trackers, customers can review recorded journeys, including information such as:

• Journey dates and times

• Start and end locations

• Distances travelled

• Journey durations

• Historical routes

Rather than relying entirely on handwritten notes or memory, you can refer back to recorded vehicle activity.

That information can help you review your mileage records and identify journeys that need further classification.

GPS tracking doesn't determine whether a journey qualifies for tax relief, but it can provide useful supporting information.

Separate business, personal and commuting journeys

One particularly useful feature of the Global Trackers platform is Trip Classification.

Customers can organise journeys into four categories:

Business: Journeys identified as work-related.

Personal: Private journeys.

Commute: Journeys identified as commuting.

Unclassified: Journeys that haven't yet been categorised.

You can classify individual journeys manually through your tracking account.

This is particularly useful if you use one vehicle for both business and personal travel.

For example, you might use your van to visit customers during the day and then drive to the supermarket in the evening.

Separating those journeys can make your records much easier to review.

Let the platform help with automatic classification

Global Trackers also includes a feature called Log Book Automation.

Where the relevant account permissions are available, customers can configure time-based rules that automatically categorise journeys.

For example, you might configure usual working periods as Business and other periods as Personal or Commute.

The system can then apply those rules to recorded journeys.

This can reduce repetitive manual classification.

However, the platform cannot independently determine the actual purpose of a journey.

A personal trip during working hours could still be categorised as Business.

That's why it's important to check your records, particularly before using them for accounting or tax purposes.

Generate a Business & Personal Mileage Report

Once journeys have been classified, Global Trackers provides a Trip Logbook (Business & Personal) report.

This allows customers to select vehicles, choose reporting dates and filter journeys by category.

For example, you can review:

• Business journeys

• Personal journeys

• Commuting journeys

• Unclassified journeys

• All recorded journey categories together

The platform also provides options to export reports for further review.

This can be useful when organising mileage information for your accountant, reviewing vehicle use or maintaining business records.

Want to try it yourself?

We've created a step-by-step guide showing how to classify journeys, configure automatic time rules and generate your mileage reports.

READ OUR HOW-TO GUIDE: How to Track Business and Personal Mileage with Global Trackers

Does every business journey qualify for mileage relief?

No — and this is an important distinction.

HMRC has specific rules about qualifying business travel.

Ordinary commuting between home and a permanent workplace is generally not qualifying business mileage.

The treatment of journeys can also depend on whether you're self-employed, employed, travelling to a temporary workplace or using a company vehicle.

For self-employed businesses, simplified mileage expenses are an alternative to claiming actual vehicle running costs, subject to eligibility and other rules.

You generally cannot claim both simplified mileage expenses and the same vehicle's actual running costs.

If you're unsure which method applies to your circumstances, speak to your accountant or check HMRC's official guidance.

Why this matters for small businesses

Accurate mileage records aren't just about tax.

They can also help you understand how your vehicles are being used.

For example, reviewing journey information may help you:

• Identify unnecessary mileage.

• Review vehicle use across different jobs.

• Understand travel patterns.

• Support maintenance planning.

• Organise records for business administration.

• Investigate opportunities to reduce running costs.

For a business with several vehicles, even small improvements in how journeys are planned and managed may be worthwhile.

The key is having useful information available when you need it.

Already a Global Trackers customer?

You may already have access to trip classification and mileage reporting within your existing subscription.

Our standard GPS tracking subscription is £5.99 per month including VAT, with up to six months of tracking history.

The platform includes journey history and reporting features, subject to the tracking data and account permissions available.

If you haven't explored these features yet, now is a good time to start.

Learn how to track business and personal mileage using Global Trackers.

Make your mileage records work harder for you

The Autumn Budget has brought business mileage allowances back into focus.

But regardless of the tax rules, knowing how your vehicles are being used is valuable.

For self-employed tradespeople, small businesses and fleet operators, organised journey records can make everyday administration easier and support better decisions.

At Global Trackers, we believe tracking should be straightforward, practical and genuinely useful.

You don't need a complicated fleet management system to start making better use of your vehicle information.

Sometimes, it starts with knowing exactly where you've been.

Explore Global Trackers GPS tracking solutions or contact our team for help getting started.

Tracking made easy. Support that makes the difference.

Information reflects the Autumn Budget 2026 announcements and published HMRC guidance as at November 2026. The higher rate for mileage above 10,000 miles is scheduled to take effect on 6 April 2027. This article provides general information, not individual tax advice.