Deliveroo Tax Returns
What you owe, what you can claim and how it works if you ride a bike. Self Assessment, mileage and expenses for Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats riders. Fixed fees and a free first conversation.
Stay on top of your rider income, expenses and tax return
We organise your income records, claim every allowable expense, prepare your Self Assessment return and tell you what you owe before it is due.
Self Assessment registration and UTR guidance.
Mileage or bike costs, phone, insurance, bags and equipment.
Prepared, explained and submitted on time.
Recording income from Deliveroo, Just Eat, Uber Eats and any other app.
Bicycle, e-bike, scooter, motorbike or car — each treated differently.
Thermal bags, waterproofs, helmet, phone mount and data costs.
Prepared accurately and submitted on time, every year.
Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Adviser in the firm
Agreed before we start, no hourly billing
Wherever in the UK you drive
Accountants for Deliveroo and Food Delivery Riders
Riding for Deliveroo makes you self-employed from your first drop. Nothing is deducted at source, so what you owe is worked out entirely from the records you keep and the Self Assessment return you file each January.
We work with riders on Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats, and the expenses side matters more here than in most self-employed trades — margins are thin, so the difference between claiming properly and claiming roughly is real money. If you deliver by bicycle, the rules are also not what most people assume. That is covered below.
Mileage and Vehicle Costs for Delivery Riders
HMRC treats each vehicle type differently, and the bicycle rule is the one most riders get wrong.
Car or van
45p / 25p per mile
45p for the first 10,000 business miles in the tax year, then 25p. Or claim actual running costs instead — not both.
Motorbike or scooter
24p per mile
A flat 24p per business mile, with no 10,000-mile step. Or claim actual costs, whichever suits your records.
Bicycle or e-bike
No flat rate
HMRC simplified expenses do not include a mileage rate for pedal cycles. Self-employed riders claim a business-use share of actual costs instead — the bike, repairs, tyres, lights and lock.
Everything else
Actual cost
Phone and data, insurance, thermal bags, waterproofs, helmet, phone mount and platform fees — claimed on the business-use proportion.
A lot of pages state a flat mileage rate for bicycles. There is not one for the self-employed — that figure belongs to the employer-to-employee scheme. Riders who use it on a tax return are usually claiming less than they are entitled to. See GOV.UK simplified expenses or ask us to check your figures.
Delivery Rider Accounting Services
Clear, practical support for riders who want their records and tax return handled properly.
Self Assessment Tax Returns
Preparation and online submission of Self Assessment tax returns for Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats riders.
HMRC Registration Support
Help with Self Assessment registration, UTR guidance and understanding what records HMRC expects you to keep.
Bookkeeping for Riders
Support organising rider income, bank records, receipts and business expenses across every platform you work for.
Mileage and Vehicle Costs
Guidance on mileage records, and on bike, e-bike, scooter, motorbike or car costs, insurance, servicing and business-use calculations.
Tax Calculation
Clear calculation of taxable profit, Income Tax, National Insurance and any payments on account where applicable.
Making Tax Digital
Digital records and MTD for Income Tax preparation using Xero, QuickBooks or FreeAgent.
What Delivery Riders Can Claim
Riders reduce taxable profit by claiming allowable business expenses. The key is accurate records and only claiming costs that genuinely relate to the delivery work.
The ones most often missed are the platform fees deducted from your earnings, and equipment — thermal bags, waterproofs, helmet and phone mount all count. If you also do parcel work, see our courier and delivery driver page.
Records to keep
- Weekly earnings summaries from each platform you ride for.
- Bank statements showing business income and expenses.
- A log of business miles, dates and journeys.
- Bike or vehicle purchase, repair, servicing and insurance receipts.
- Thermal bags, waterproofs, helmet and equipment receipts.
- Phone and data bills, tolls and business parking.
Our Delivery Rider Tax Return Process
A straightforward process from first conversation to a filed return.
- Tell us about your delivery work, which platforms you ride for, start date and the tax year you need.
- Send your rider income summaries, bank statements, receipts, mileage records and any HMRC letters.
- We review your records and identify missing information, allowable expenses and filing requirements.
- We prepare your Self Assessment tax return and explain the figures clearly before submission.
- After your approval, we submit the return online to HMRC and confirm the payment details.
- We help improve your record-keeping for future years, including receipts, mileage and digital records.
Need Help With Your Deliveroo Tax Return?
Self Assessment, bookkeeping, mileage, bike costs and rider expenses. Fixed fees, free first conversation.
Deliveroo Tax Questions, Answered
How much you pay, when to register, what you can claim and how bicycle costs work.
How much tax will I pay?
You pay Income Tax and National Insurance on your profit — what is left after allowable expenses — not on your gross earnings. The first £12,570 of total income is usually covered by the personal allowance, then basic rate is 20% and higher rate 40%. As a rough guide, setting aside 20 to 30% of your profit covers tax and National Insurance for most riders, though your exact position depends on any other income you have.
No. Self-employed riders are not taxed through PAYE and nothing is deducted at source. You receive your earnings gross and settle your own Income Tax and National Insurance through Self Assessment, paying HMRC by 31 January following the end of the tax year.
Yes, once your delivery income passes the £1,000 trading allowance. You keep your PAYE job as normal and add the self-employment pages to a Self Assessment return. Your tax is then worked out across all your income combined, which sometimes means the delivery profit is taxed at a higher rate than people expect because the personal allowance is already used up.
Registering and deadlines
If your gross trading income from delivery work and any other self-employment is more than £1,000 in a tax year, you must register for Self Assessment. If you are newly self-employed, register by 5 October following the end of the tax year in which you started. Filing is then due by 31 January, with an automatic £100 penalty for missing it even where no tax is owed.
No. You register as self-employed once and report income from every platform on a single Self Assessment return. Keeping the income from each app separated in your own records makes the return quicker to prepare, and shows you which platform is genuinely paying better once costs are accounted for.
Yes. Under HMRC digital platform reporting rules, platforms such as Deliveroo share rider income data with HMRC. This does not replace your own responsibility to keep records and declare all taxable income — but it does mean the figures on your return need to match what the platform reported.
Expenses, mileage and your bike
Allowable expenses may include business mileage or vehicle running costs, bicycle costs, insurance, phone and data, thermal delivery bags, waterproofs, helmet and other protective equipment, tolls, parking for business journeys and platform fees. What you can claim depends on your vehicle, your records and the expense method you use.
It depends on your vehicle. HMRC simplified mileage rates are 45p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles then 25p for cars and goods vehicles, and a flat 24p per mile for motorcycles. There is no flat mileage rate for pedal cycles, so if you deliver by bicycle you claim a business-use share of the actual costs instead. Keep a log of business miles, dates and journeys whichever applies.
If you deliver by bicycle you can usually claim the business-use proportion of the bike itself, along with repairs, servicing, tyres, lights, lock and insurance. Where the bike is also used privately, the claim is restricted to the business share, so it helps to be able to justify how you arrived at the split.
No. Fines and penalties are not allowable business expenses. Parking fees for genuine business journeys are usually allowable.
Making Tax Digital and getting help
MTD for Income Tax applies to sole traders by qualifying income, which is gross income rather than profit. It already applies above £50,000, dropping to £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028. Because the test uses turnover, a full-time rider can be caught by it on figures well above their actual take-home. Affected riders keep digital records and send quarterly updates using compatible software.
You are not legally required to use one. Where it usually pays for itself is on expenses claimed correctly — particularly for cyclists, where the rules are less obvious than people assume — and on penalties avoided. If your affairs are genuinely simple we will say so.
What Bolt Drivers Need to Know About Tax
Bolt does not deduct tax from what you earn. You are self-employed from your first fare, which means registering with HMRC, keeping records and filing a Self Assessment tax return each year.
Register by 5 October
If you earn more than £1,000 from driving in a tax year, you must tell HMRC by 5 October following the end of that tax year. The return itself is due by 31 January.
Set aside 20 to 30%
A rough guide for Income Tax and National Insurance on your profit. Putting it aside weekly is the simplest way to avoid a January surprise.
Claim your mileage
45p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles and 25p after that, or actual running costs — whichever works out better for your vehicle.
Working both apps?
Bolt and Uber together is still one tax return. Keep the income from each separated in your records and it stays straightforward.
Two things worth knowing. HMRC receives income data directly from platforms under digital reporting rules, so what you declare needs to match what Bolt reports. And Making Tax Digital for Income Tax already applies to sole traders with gross income over £50,000, dropping to £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028. The test uses turnover rather than profit, so it catches more full-time drivers than people expect.