Mileage Deduction Calculator for Deliveroo

Why Use the Mileage Deduction Calculator?

As a Deliveroo rider, your vehicle is your most valuable business asset — and the mileage you ride is your single largest tax deduction. But here's the problem: most delivery riders miss 30-50% of their deductible miles because they track manually (or not at all).

This calculator shows you exactly what you're entitled to. Here's the math:

• 2026/27 HMRC Mileage Rate: 55p per mile for the first 10,000 miles (cars and vans)
• 10,000 business miles = £5,500 deduction
• At a 20% tax rate = £1,100 in tax savings

Standard Mileage Rate vs. Actual Expenses: The standard rate is simpler and usually gives you a larger deduction. It covers fuel, maintenance, insurance, and repairs all in one rate. You only need to track your miles — not every receipt. Actual expenses require you to track and deduct every cost separately (fuel, oil changes, tyres, insurance, repairs, etc.). For most delivery riders, the standard mileage rate is the better choice.

Use this calculator to see your exact deduction — and how much you're likely leaving on the table.

💡 Why Tracking Every Mile Matters More Than You Think

The compound effect over a year: If you ride 200 miles per week for Deliveroo, that's 10,400 miles per year. At 55p/mile, that's a £5,720 deduction — saving you £1,144 at a 20% tax rate. But if you're missing 30% of your miles (the average for manual trackers), you're leaving £343 on the table every year. Over five years, that's over £1,700.

Commuting vs. Business Miles — The Critical Distinction: Your commute from home to your first delivery zone is NOT deductible. But once you accept your first order, every mile you ride — from the restaurant to the customer, and all the dead miles between orders — IS deductible. This is the #1 confusion point for delivery riders. HMRC is very clear: business miles begin when you start your first delivery for the day and end when you complete your last delivery.

Audit Protection: HMRC requires contemporaneous records — logs written at the time of travel, not reconstructed at year-end. This is where most riders fail. Without proper logs, you could lose your deduction in an audit. Automated tracking creates bulletproof audit protection — every mile is timestamped and logged automatically.

Your Vehicle Changes Your Rate — And Bicycles Are a Gray Area: Deliveroo riders use everything from cars to mopeds to e-bikes and pedal bikes, and HMRC pays a different flat rate for each — not the car rate across the board. This calculator covers car (55p/mile for the first 10,000 miles, then 25p) and motorcycle/moped (a flat 24p/mile). If you ride a pedal bike or e-bike, HMRC's simplified mileage rates for the self-employed only cover cars, goods vehicles, and motorcycles — bicycles aren't included. The 20p/mile cycle rate you may have seen quoted is the employee reimbursement rate, not a self-employed simplified expense, so self-employed cyclists generally need to claim actual costs (a share of the bike's cost as a capital allowance, plus maintenance) instead of a flat mileage rate. Check with an accountant since this is genuinely unsettled ground, outside what this calculator estimates.

Step-by-Step: How to Maximize Your Mileage Deduction

Follow this framework to ensure you're capturing every deductible mile for your Deliveroo deliveries:

• Step 1: Log your odometer — Record your starting and ending odometer reading for each delivery shift. This creates the baseline for your business miles.
• Step 2: Note the business purpose — "Deliveroo delivery" is sufficient. You don't need to log every restaurant name or customer address, just the purpose of the trip.
• Step 3: Track every business mile — This includes miles from order acceptance to restaurant pickup, from pickup to customer drop-off, and all dead miles between orders. Every mile counts.
• Step 4: Choose Standard vs. Actual — For most riders, the standard mileage rate is simpler and more beneficial. Use this calculator to see your projected annual savings.
• Step 5: Keep contemporaneous records — Log your miles at the time of travel. Reconstructed logs are often rejected in audits. Use the Income Tracker to automate this step.

The result: you maximize your deduction, minimize your taxes, and have bulletproof audit protection.

Who This Mileage Calculator Is For

This tool is built for anyone who delivers food and rides for a living. Specifically:

• Deliveroo riders — tracking miles for tax deductions
• Uber Eats drivers — maximizing your delivery mileage deduction
• Just Eat couriers — delivery riders tracking business miles
• Any delivery platform earner — Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Just Eat, and more

If you ride for delivery, this calculator gives you a clear answer on what your mileage is worth and how much you could save.

More Help for Delivery Riders

Understanding your full earnings picture is essential. Beyond mileage deductions, platform fees and currency conversion can significantly impact your take-home pay. Here are the tools and resources you need:

• Take-Home Pay Calculator — see what you actually keep after platform fees, transaction costs, and currency conversion
• Platform Fees Comparison — compare all delivery platforms by true net earnings. Which one pays best?
• Income Tracker — automatically track your Deliveroo earnings and mileage in one dashboard. 7-day free trial.
• Full Mileage Deduction Calculator Hub — find mileage rates for your country and vehicle type
• HMRC Vehicle Expenses Guide — the official guide to vehicle deductions.

Frequently Asked Questions