There are two ways to calculate the car or van costs you can claim for a private vehicle that is used for business.

Method 1

The first method is to keep a mileage log and claim the Approved Mileage Rate per mile - currently 45p/mile (for the first ten thousand miles). NB it is possible to also reclaim some VAT on these rates.

Method 2

The alternative is to calculate your entire mileage costs of running the vehicle for a year (including petrol, repairs, road tax, insurance etc) and also keep a mileage log for the year that will give you the % of your vehicle use to apply to this total cost.