Mileage Reimbursement Calculator
Enter the distance you drove for work, your reimbursement rate, and optionally what a kilometre actually costs you. The calculator totals what you are owed, shows the per-100 figure, and quantifies the gap if your rate is fuel-only.
Mileage tables on HR portals give you a rate and stop there. This one tells you what the rate means: standard rates bundle fuel with maintenance, tyres, insurance and depreciation - and accepting a fuel-only rate quietly donates about two-thirds of the real cost.
How to use
- Total your business distance for the period from your trip log - contemporaneous notes, not reconstruction.
- Enter the rate your employer, client or national tax authority publishes (rates are set per year - check the current one).
- Optionally enter your true cost per unit to see whether the rate covers you, and by how much per period.
Frequently asked questions
What rate should I claim per mile or km?
Use your national tax authority's published standard rate - they exist precisely so you do not have to itemise, and claiming them stays tax-free. The headline figures move yearly, so check the current publication rather than reusing last year's.
Why is a fuel-only reimbursement a bad deal?
Fuel is roughly 30-40% of a car's per-km cost; maintenance, tyres, insurance and depreciation make up the rest. A fuel-only rate pays the petrol and leaves you funding the wear - over a year of typical field work, a four-figure difference.
What records do I need for mileage claims?
Date, start and end points, purpose, and distance per trip, logged as it happens. Reconstructed logs are the classic audit rejection; a recurring calendar entry per regular route plus occasional photos of the odometer makes the log self-writing.
Do commuting miles count?
No - the ordinary home-to-work journey is personal almost everywhere. But a direct business trip from home to a client, or a detour to the office en route to a site visit, qualifies in most systems. The first and last leg home does not.