What can delivery riders claim?
As a self-employed rider you pay tax on your profit — what the apps paid you minus your business costs. Every allowable cost you record lowers your tax bill. Here's what counts, and what HMRC won't accept.
The short answer: you can claim the business part of your vehicle (by mileage or actual costs), your phone and data, delivery kit like an insulated bag and phone mount, protective gear, and business insurance. You can't claim everyday clothes, fines, food, or personal trips.
First: expenses or the £1,000 trading allowance?
Everyone self-employed can take a £1,000 tax-free trading allowance instead of claiming expenses. You can't do both. If your real costs are under £1,000 (common for some cyclists), take the allowance. If they're over — and with a car, van or motorbike they almost always are — claim your expenses.
Your vehicle: car, van or motorbike
Choose one of two ways for each vehicle:
1. A flat rate per business mile (simplified expenses)
| Vehicle | 2025–26 | 2026–27 |
|---|---|---|
| Car or van, first 10,000 business miles | 45p a mile | 55p a mile |
| Car or van, after 10,000 miles | 25p a mile | 25p a mile |
| Motorcycle | 24p a mile | 24p a mile |
The flat rate covers fuel, insurance, repairs, servicing, road tax and wear. You can still claim parking on top. Once you use the flat rate for a vehicle you must keep using it for as long as you use that vehicle for work, and you can't use it for a vehicle you've already claimed capital allowances on. More in the mileage allowance explained.
2. Your actual costs
Add up fuel, insurance, repairs and servicing, road tax, breakdown cover and any lease or hire charges, then claim the share you use for work. If 70% of your miles are deliveries, claim 70% of the costs. You'll need receipts and a mileage log to show the split.
Bicycles and e-bikes
The flat mileage rates for the self-employed cover cars, vans and motorcycles — not bicycles. Cycle couriers claim their actual costs instead: repairs, tyres, chains and parts, lights and locks, and the bike or e-bike itself, in the share you use it for work. If those come to less than £1,000 a year, the trading allowance is the better choice.
Other costs riders can claim
- Phone and data: the business share of your contract or top-ups. If you use the phone half the time for deliveries, claim half.
- Delivery kit: insulated or thermal bags, phone mounts, power banks and chargers used for work.
- Protective gear: clothing you need for safety at work, such as a helmet, high-visibility vest or protective motorcycle gear — not ordinary clothes.
- Insurance: courier or business-use cover, and any public liability insurance.
- Parking while working (not fines).
- Money and admin: bank charges on an account you use for the business, accountant fees, and bookkeeping software.
What you can't claim
- Everyday clothing — jackets, trainers, gloves you'd wear anyway — even if you wear them for work.
- Parking tickets, speeding fines and other penalties.
- Food and drink during a normal shift.
- Personal journeys, and the personal share of anything you use for both.
Keep records
Keep receipts, bank statements, the payment summaries from each app, and a log of your business miles. HMRC asks you to keep records for at least 5 years after the 31 January deadline for that year's return. If you'll be using Making Tax Digital, they need to be kept digitally.
Don't lose track of a single cost
Fisely logs your expenses and mileage, picks the better of the trading allowance or your real costs, and shows your tax as you go.
Create a free accountSources
- Expenses if you're self-employed (GOV.UK) — including travel and clothing
- Simplified expenses: vehicles (GOV.UK)
- Tax-free allowances on property and trading income (GOV.UK)
This guide is general information, not tax advice. Rules can change — check GOV.UK or ask an accountant about your own situation.