If you travel to see clients, attend meetings or make other journeys for work, your company can usually pay the travel costs.
Your company can also pay for any other related costs (including train fares, hotels, parking, and meals) that form part of the trip.
However, not every work-related journey counts qualifies as legitimate business travel for tax purposes.
The important distinction to make is between business travel and ordinary commuting. Your company cannot simply pay for every journey you make because it is connected in some way with your working day.
What counts as business travel?
Broadly speaking, business travel includes journeys you have to make while carrying out your duties as a director, and journeys to places you need to attend for work which aren’t your permanent workplace.
Typical examples include:
- Travelling from your office to visit a client.
- Visiting a supplier or another business.
- Travelling to a temporary workplace.
- Attending a business meeting, conference or training event.
- Travelling between two workplaces as part of your work.
- Making a journey to buy or collect something for the business.
HMRC distinguishes between travelling in the performance of your duties and travelling to a place where your attendance is necessary to perform those duties.
You can read HMRC’s detailed explanation in its guidance on when travel qualifies for tax relief.
You can’t claim for ordinary commuting
The main restriction on claiming business travel expenses relates to ordinary commuting.
If your company has an office which is your permanent workplace, the normal journey between your home and that office is commuting. You can’t claim the cost as tax-free business travel simply because you’re travelling to work.
This same reasoning applies regardless of the mode of transport you use.
As a simple example: if you live in Reading and your company’s permanent office is in London. Your normal train journey between home and the London office is commuting.
However, if you need to travel from the London office to a client’s premises in Birmingham, that journey would normally be categorised as business travel.
If you work from home, you can still claim the cost of travelling from home to a temporary workplace, provided the journey meets the usual business travel rules.
HMRC has more information in its guidance on ordinary commuting and private travel.
Travelling to a temporary workplace
The temporary workplace rules are particularly important for contractors and other company directors who spend time working at client sites.
A workplace is usually regarded as temporary when you attend it to carry out a task which has a limited (fixed) duration, or – as the name suggests – it really is a temporary location.
If the location qualifies as ‘temporary’, your limited company can normally pay or reimburse the cost of travelling there without incurring a tax charge.
However, there is an important restriction known as the 24-month rule.
A workplace will generally cease to qualify as temporary where you spend, or expect to spend, at least 40% of your working time there over a period lasting more than 24 months.
Importantly, you don’t necessarily wait until the 24 months have passed.
If you initially expect to work at a client site for 18 months, it may qualify as a temporary workplace. If, after 12 months, the arrangement is extended and you now expect to be there for a total of 30 months, the tax treatment changes from the point your expectation changes.
The precise workplace rules can become complicated where you work at several sites or your working pattern changes, so check with your accountant if you aren’t sure whether a location remains temporary.
Using your own car for business journeys
If you use your personally owned car or van for qualifying business journeys, your company can pay you an approved mileage allowance.
From 6 April 2026, the rates for cars and vans are:
- 55p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles in the tax year.
- 25p per mile after the first 10,000 business miles.
The rate for motorcycles is 24p per business mile and 20p per business mile for bicycles.
These fixed rates are intended to cover all costs associated with using your own vehicle (fuel, servicing, and other running costs).
So, if you drive 4,000 qualifying business miles during the 2026/27 tax year, your company can pay you:
4,000 × 55p = £2,200
You don’t need to produce £2,200 of petrol receipts to claim this amount. Instead, you should keep a proper mileage record showing the business journeys you’ve made.
You can check the current figures on the government’s travel mileage rates and allowances page.
What mileage records should you keep?
Keep a record of the actual business miles you claim, including:
- Date of the journey.
- Start point and destination.
- Reason for the trip.
- Number of business miles travelled.
You can keep this information in your accounting software, a dedicated mileage app or a simple Excel spreadsheet.
The important thing is that you have enough information to support the mileage claimed if you are ever asked.
Trains, buses, taxis and flights
Your company can normally pay the actual cost of public transport used for qualifying business journeys.
This could include:
- Train and Underground fares.
- Bus and coach tickets.
- Taxis.
- Domestic and overseas flights.
- Other public transport used during the trip.
Keep the receipt, ticket or booking confirmation with your accounting records wherever possible. This has never been easier to do, thanks to accounting software such as FreeAgent and Xero.
The fact that a ticket is expensive doesn’t automatically preclude your company from paying for it. What matters is whether the journey itself qualifies as business travel and the cost was genuinely incurred for that journey.
Hotels and overnight accommodation
If you need to stay away from home overnight on a business trip, your company can normally pay for the accommodation.
For example, if you’re working at a client’s premises in Manchester for two days, it may make sense to stay in a hotel rather than travel home and back again.
The company can pay the hotel directly, or reimburse you if you pay for it personally. The same applies to accommodation needed when attending a conference, meeting or other qualifying business event away from your normal workplace.
If you add private days to the trip, keep the personal costs separate. Your company should only pay the costs which relate to the business part of the trip.
Meals and subsistence while travelling
Your company can also pay reasonable subsistence costs as they arise during qualifying business travel.
This can include meals and refreshments bought while you’re travelling or staying away from home on business.
For example, if you travel to a temporary workplace and need to buy lunch while you’re there, the cost may qualify as a valid travel expense.
Similarly, if an overnight business trip requires a hotel stay, the company can normally pay the necessary cost of your accommodation and meals.
HMRC’s travel and subsistence guidance covers meals, accommodation and other necessary costs associated with business journeys.
Although it might seem obvious, it’s worth noting that an ordinary lunch on a normal working day isn’t transformed into a business expense simply because you happen to eat it while you work.
Parking, tolls and congestion charges
You can also claim costs such as parking charges, road tolls and congestion charges if they arise during a qualifying business journey.
For example, if you drive to a client’s office and pay £15 to park nearby, you can claim the parking charge as well as your mileage allowance.
You can’t claim parking fines or other penalties as business travel expenses.
What if the company owns the car?
The mileage allowance rates above apply when you use your own vehicle for business travel.
There are different rules in place if the vehicle belongs to your company.
If you have a company car, you don’t claim 55p per mile for using it. The company is already paying the costs of owning and running the vehicle, and separate rules apply when it reimburses you for fuel or electricity used on business journeys.
Company cars can also create a Benefit in Kind charge where they are available for private use.
If you’re considering buying or leasing a car through your company, it is worth discussing the overall tax position with your accountant rather than looking at the travel expense rules in isolation.
Keep business and private travel separate
The simplest way to account for any travel expenses is to keep good records and claim only identifiable business journeys and associated costs.
If you use your own car, maintain a simple mileage log. For train, flight, hotel, and other expenses, always retain the invoices and receipts.
And remember that paying an expense through your company doesn’t automatically make it tax-deductible.
If a journey is really ordinary commuting or private travel, paying for it on a company credit card does not change how it is treated for tax purposes.
Need more advice? Get in touch.
If you make only occasional business trips, the tax treatment of these expenses is usually very simple. However, if you regularly work at client sites, you should be aware of the temporary workplace and 24-month rules.
If you’re unsure about what you can and cannot claim for – whether this relates to travel or any other type of expense – get in touch with the Integro team.
Click here to get in touch with the Integro team.
You can also read our complete guide to limited company expenses for more information on the costs you can claim through your limited company.
