Nobody starts driving to do paperwork, but the tax side of courier work is simpler than it looks - and sorting it in week one beats untangling a year of bank statements in January. Here's how it works for UK delivery drivers in the 2026/27 tax year.
Register once, then it's annual
If you invoice for your driving - owner-driver or self-employed with a parcel operator - you're a sole trader. Register for Self Assessment with HMRC by 5 October after the end of your first tax year of trading; you'll get a Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR), which many operators ask for before your first invoice. After that it's one online return a year, due 31 January along with the payment.
What you'll actually pay (2026/27)
- Income tax: nothing on your first £12,570 of profit (the personal allowance), 20% up to £50,270, 40% above that.
- Class 4 National Insurance: 6% on profit between £12,570 and £50,270, then 2%.
- Class 2 NI: you no longer pay it - profit over £12,570 credits your State Pension record automatically. Under £7,105, you can pay £3.65 a week voluntarily to protect it.
Two things make this painless: tax is charged on profit, not turnover - every legitimate expense reduces the bill - and moving 20-25% of each invoice into a separate account the day it lands means January is already funded.
Expenses a delivery driver can claim
- The vehicle: van rental or lease payments, or capital allowances if you bought it - see the flat-rate alternative below.
- Fuel - the big one on multi-drop; a fuel card statement doubles as tidy records.
- Insurance: hire-and-reward cover, goods in transit and public liability.
- Phone and apps - the business share of your contract.
- Parking and tolls while working - but never fines; penalty charges are not deductible.
- Safety gear (hi-vis, boots, gloves) and accountant fees - both allowable.
Flat-rate mileage vs actual costs
Instead of claiming vehicle costs individually, you can claim a flat rate per business mile: 55p for the first 10,000 miles and 25p after that for cars and vans from 6 April 2026 (the first rise in years - it was 45p), or 24p for motorcycles. The flat rate replaces all vehicle costs - rental, fuel, insurance, repairs - so pick carefully:
- Full-time van couriers usually do better on actual costs: a rented van plus multi-drop fuel typically outstrips what 25-40,000 miles returns at flat rate.
- Part-time car couriers usually do better on the flat rate - less arithmetic, and 55p a mile is generous on an economical car.
- Once you use the flat rate for a vehicle you stick with it for that vehicle, and you can't also claim capital allowances on it.
Making Tax Digital: the 2026 change
From 6 April 2026, sole traders with qualifying income over £50,000 (on their 2024/25 return) must keep digital records and send HMRC quarterly updates through Making Tax Digital software. The threshold drops to £30,000 in April 2027 and £20,000 in April 2028 - so most full-time drivers join within two years. In practice it means bookkeeping software or an accountant rather than a shoebox of receipts; the tax itself doesn't change.
Payments on account - the bill nobody warns you about
Once your bill tops £1,000, HMRC asks for next year in advance: 50% on 31 January and 50% on 31 July. Your first January as a driver can therefore be 150% of a year's tax in one go - a £3,000 bill becomes £4,500 due in January and £1,500 in July. It's the single best reason to save a quarter of every invoice from day one.
Is an accountant worth it?
A sole-trader accountant typically costs £200-£400 a year - itself deductible - and tends to pay for itself the first time capital allowances, use-of-home or a missed expense category comes up, let alone quarterly MTD filings. Compare courier-friendly firms on our accounting partners page.
VAT, briefly
You only register for VAT past £90,000 of taxable turnover in 12 months - above what almost any solo driver bills. Ignore it until you're running multiple vans.
Know what you'll owe and the rest is earning: see the courier pay breakdown for realistic take-home numbers, then browse live van delivery jobs and all delivery driver jobs - free for drivers.