Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAP) let Ltd company directors reclaim business mileage in their personal car at tax-free statutory rates: 45p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles per tax year, 25p per mile thereafter. The reimbursement is deductible against Corporation Tax + tax-free income for the director.
A free CSV template for Ltd company directors who use their personal car for company business. Log each business journey with start + end postcodes and the company can reimburse you tax-free at HMRC's AMAP rates: 45p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles per tax year, 25p per mile thereafter. The reimbursement is deductible for the company and tax-free income for you.
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The Approved Mileage Allowance Payment (AMAP) rates let Ltd directors reclaim business mileage in their personal vehicle from the company without triggering Income Tax or NI on the reimbursement. The rates are statutory and unchanged for many years: 45p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles in a tax year, 25p per mile thereafter.
Key rules: the car must be the director's personal vehicle (not a company car); only business mileage qualifies (commuting between home and a permanent workplace is NOT business mileage; visiting a temporary workplace IS, subject to the 24-month rule); reimbursement at the AMAP rate or below is tax-free; reimbursement above AMAP is taxable as additional income; the company cannot also claim VAT on the fuel element separately, AMAP rates assume the director bears the fuel cost.
Why this matters: tax-efficient (tax-free reimbursement vs taxable salary/dividend), simpler than running a company car (no P11D, no BIK calculation, no fuel benefit), particularly efficient for low-mileage directors (5,000-10,000 business miles/year) who would otherwise have to justify a company car's BIK against the tax-free reimbursement available.
What you'll need before starting
Your business journey diary or calendar
Postcodes for start + end of each journey
Total miles per journey
Reason for the journey
Confirmation the vehicle is your personal car (not a company car)
How to use it
Open the CSV in Excel, Google Sheets, or Numbers.
For each business journey, log: date, start postcode, end postcode, business miles, AMAP rate applicable (45p if running total ≤10,000 miles, 25p above), reimbursement due that journey, running total for the tax year.
Submit totals to your company's bookkeeping monthly or quarterly. The company pays the reimbursement + books it as a vehicle expense.
The reimbursement is tax-free to you (no Income Tax, no NI on the AMAP amount). The company deducts it from Corporation Tax.
Keep the log + supporting evidence (calendar, client emails, GPS records) for at least 6 years from the end of the company's accounting period, HMRC's standard Ltd company record-keeping period.
Why this matters for HMRC audit defence
AMAP reimbursement is one of the highest-scrutiny areas in director Self Assessment + Ltd Co reviews. HMRC will challenge:
- High AMAP claims without a contemporaneous mileage log (claims of 8,000+ business miles need supporting evidence)
- Claims for commuting between home and a permanent workplace (not business mileage)
- Claims for journeys to a single client site for 24+ months (the 24-month rule turns the temporary workplace into a permanent workplace; mileage stops being claimable)
- AMAP claims at the same time as a company car for the same director (logically impossible, if you have a company car, you don't claim AMAP on a personal car)
- Family journeys claimed as business (e.g. school run dressed as 'client visit')
The postcode columns are the audit defence: start postcode + end postcode + date provides the contemporaneous evidence HMRC accepts. Reconstructed-from-memory logs after a year end are routinely challenged.
24-month rule: if you regularly visit a single client site for 24+ months, that site becomes 'permanent' and AMAP claims stop. Plan around this if you have long engagements.