Making Tax Digital · Sole traders
Keeping mileage records on your phone: simplified expenses and actual vehicle costs
ONLY£15A MONTHA phone can help capture the date, journey and business purpose needed for a mileage record.
A phone can help capture the date, journey and business purpose needed for a mileage record. The deduction still depends on the method and vehicle eligibility. Recording a journey digitally does not make private miles allowable or permit mileage and actual running costs to be claimed twice.
Use the current simplified rates
For eligible cars and goods vehicles in 2026/27, simplified expenses use 55p per business mile for the first 10,000 miles and 25p thereafter. Motorcycles use 24p. The earlier 45p rate applies to earlier years, not automatically to current journeys. Check HMRC's vehicle rates and conditions.
Some vehicles are excluded, including relevant commercially designed or adapted cars. Previous capital claims can prevent use of the method, and once adopted the mileage method normally continues while the vehicle is used in the business.
Keep the record useful
Capture the date, start and destination, business reason and distance. Review automated trip suggestions and exclude private journeys. Use a reliable record tool, but confirm whether Avona itself offers the specific journey-tracking feature you need rather than assuming automatic tracking.
Under actual costs, keep expense and business-use evidence instead. Avoid claiming fuel, insurance, depreciation or acquisition costs again where already covered or excluded by the chosen tax method.
Worked example: 12,000 qualifying miles
Assuming the vehicle and method qualify in 2026/27, 10,000 miles at 55p gives £5,500 and the remaining 2,000 at 25p gives £500. The simplified vehicle deduction is £6,000.
This is a deduction, not a £6,000 refund. Eligible additional costs need their own check, and private mileage does not enter the calculation.
Start with the business purpose
An expense category describes a cost; it does not decide whether the cost qualifies for relief. The starting point is whether the spending was for the trade. Where an identifiable part was private, keep that part out of the claim. A personal withdrawal is not an expense simply because it leaves the business bank account.
HMRC's self-employed expenses guide explains the distinction between running costs, capital expenditure and private use. For example, a supplier may sell both equipment and household products. The shop's name is useful evidence, but the invoice tells you what you bought.
Record the full transaction and the business calculation clearly. If a £120 bill has £30 of identifiable private spending, a £90 business claim is easier to explain when both amounts and the reason for the split are retained. Do not delete the private part merely to force the bookkeeping total to resemble the tax deduction.
Nor is a deduction a reimbursement. Spending £100 to save a fraction of that amount in tax still leaves you with a real cost. Buy what the business needs, keep appropriate evidence and claim the relief available under the correct rules.
Keep the evidence connected to the figures
Your digital record should explain the amount, date and nature of the transaction. Keep the invoice, receipt, statement or other evidence that supports it. A photograph can make a paper document easier to retain, but a folder of photographs alone does not create complete transaction records.
For sole traders, HMRC normally requires business records to be kept for at least five years after the relevant 31 January filing deadline. Keep them longer where the rules for a late return, enquiry or other circumstances require it. Check the record-retention guidance.
Make the records usable by your future self. Include a short explanation where a bank description is vague, retain the calculation behind a business-use split and make corrections traceable. For a missing receipt, try the supplier account, email confirmation or a replacement invoice before relying on incomplete evidence.
At review time, compare your records with the bank or payment account and investigate differences. Equal totals are useful, but two errors can cancel each other out. A sample of individual transactions can reveal a duplicated purchase or an omitted customer receipt that a totals-only check misses.
A review that checks more than the total
Start with coverage: the correct person, business and period, plus all relevant accounts and cash records. Then look at completeness. A feed can be connected today while still missing an earlier week. Confirm the earliest and latest transactions against the source.
Next, inspect unusual items. Large transfers, loan receipts, refunds, net settlements and private purchases often need more context than a bank description provides. Check for duplicate imports where a statement overlaps a live feed. An automatic warning is useful evidence to investigate, not proof that the entry must be removed.
Finally, review category totals. A category unexpectedly showing zero, a large increase or a negative amount deserves an explanation. You do not have to make every annual tax adjustment at this stage, but you should understand the records behind the summary you approve.
HMRC explains what quarterly updates contain. Keep the approved version and the resulting acknowledgement together. If something later changes, correct the source record and use the software's supported update process so you can explain which figures are current.
Record safely and review regularly
Enter or review journeys only when safely stopped. Export or retain the log, inspect gaps and keep the vehicle's method history. Confirm eligibility before switching methods or applying a general car example to a specialist trade vehicle.
Take the next step
Avona.app offers a self-service route from £15/month. Bring your records together, review the figures and choose a workflow that fits your business. For professional help, discuss the scope and total price of Avona Concierge, managed by chartered accountants, before choosing a service.