Travel & Mileage
Business mileage
Using your own vehicle for business journeys can be claimed using HMRC's approved mileage rates, which cover fuel plus wear and tear.
Business travel
Train fares, flights, taxis and hotel bills all sit under one umbrella, and the same test decides them all: travel for the work itself — to clients, suppliers or temporary work sites — is allowable, while ordinary commuting between home and a regular workplace never is. Trips that mix business with a holiday need the private element stripped out before anything is claimed.
Train & rail fares
Season tickets are the trap with rail travel: a ticket that covers your regular route to work is commuting, and commuting is never deductible — for anyone. Fares for business journeys proper — trips to clients, suppliers or a temporary workplace — are allowable, whether you are self-employed, running a company or (subject to the 24-month rule) an employee.
Taxis & ride-hailing
HMRC draws no distinction between a black cab and an Uber or Bolt — both are simply taxi fares, allowable when the journey is for business and disallowed when it is really a commute. What catches people out is the app: a tidy digital receipt proves the trip happened, not that it was for work, so the business purpose of each journey still needs recording.
Hotels & overnight accommodation
Hotel and other overnight accommodation costs are allowable when a qualifying business journey genuinely requires an overnight stay — but the cost must be reasonable and any private nights must be excluded.
Flights
Flying somewhere doesn't change the rules: a regular flight to your permanent place of work is commuting, whatever the distance, and is no more claimable than a daily train. Flights taken for the business itself are allowable, though trips that combine work with a holiday call for careful apportionment between the business and private elements.
Congestion charge & ULEZ
Whether a congestion charge, ULEZ payment or clean air zone fee is claimable turns on the journey: driving into the zone for business, yes; driving through it to reach your regular workplace, no — that is commuting. Limited companies face an extra wrinkle: whose vehicle was charged, and who paid, decides whether the payment is a straightforward business cost or something taxable on the director.
Parking
A parking or traffic fine is never a business expense — penalties for breaking the law can't be deducted, even when the overstayed meter was outside a client's office. The parking charge itself is different: paying to park while on a business journey is allowable, though parking at your regular workplace as part of the daily commute is not.