Ola Driver Tax Returns
Ola left the UK in April 2024. If you have a tax return still outstanding for the years you drove, we can sort it — including where the records went with the app. Late returns, penalty appeals and returns covering more than one platform.
It is almost always fixable
Late returns feel worse than they usually are. Penalties stop building the moment the return is filed, and most people owe less than they had been imagining.
Often less than expected once expenses are properly claimed.
Penalties stop accruing as soon as the return is in.
And we will tell you honestly when there is not.
Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Adviser in the firm
Agreed before we start, no hourly billing
Wherever in the UK you drive
Still Have a Return Outstanding From Your Ola Years?
Ola ceased UK ride-hailing operations in April 2024, telling drivers they could no longer take bookings on its licence. For a lot of drivers that meant an abrupt end to the work, and to any access to their earnings history.
The obligation did not go anywhere. If you earned over £1,000 from driving in a tax year, a Self Assessment return was due for that year whether or not the platform still trades. If yours is outstanding, or you filed something rough because you had no statements, it is worth putting right — and it is usually more straightforward than people expect.
Late Filing Penalties, and Why Filing Now Still Helps
Penalties build over time, but they stop the moment the return is in. Filing late is always better than not filing.
The day after the deadline
Automatic, and charged even where no tax is owed. It applies from the moment 31 January passes.
3 months late
Daily penalties for up to 90 days, so a maximum of £900 on top of the initial £100.
6 months late
A further penalty of 5% of the tax due, or £300 — whichever is higher.
12 months late
Another 5% or £300. Late payment penalties and interest run alongside all of this.
Penalty amounts are set by HMRC and change from time to time. For the current position see GOV.UK Self Assessment penalties, or ask us to look at your specific years.
Sorting Out an Old Driver Tax Return
Whether it is one year outstanding or several, and whether or not you still have the paperwork.
Late and Backdated Tax Returns
Returns for earlier tax years, prepared and filed properly. It is rarely as bad as people fear once someone looks at it.
Penalty Appeals
Where you have a reasonable excuse, we prepare and submit the appeal. HMRC will consider it, but the case has to be put properly.
Reconstructing Missing Records
Lost your Ola statements when the app went? We work from bank records, licensing paperwork and what you do still have.
Multi-Platform Returns
Ola for part of the year, Uber or Bolt for the rest. One return, several income sources, handled cleanly.
HMRC Correspondence
Letters, determinations, compliance checks. We deal with HMRC on your behalf so you are not doing it alone.
Getting Current Again
Once the old years are cleared, we set up your record-keeping properly so it does not happen twice.
Switched Platform Part-Way Through the Year?
A lot of former Ola drivers moved to Uber, Bolt or Veezu mid-year. That is still one tax return — you were self-employed throughout, so everything goes on a single Self Assessment.
What makes these returns awkward is the records, not the rules. Two sets of statements, a gap in the middle, and frequently nothing at all from the platform that closed. We are used to piecing that together from bank records.
How the expenses split
- Vehicle costs and mileage relate to the driving as a whole — claimed once against total income.
- Insurance, licence and plate fees the same. They are annual costs, not per-platform.
- Platform commission is the exception — claimed against the income it came out of.
- Phone and data apportioned across the year on business use, not by app.
Getting an Old Return Filed
No lectures about why it is late. We just get it sorted.
- Tell us which tax years are outstanding and roughly what you were driving in each of them.
- Send whatever records you still have — bank statements are usually enough to start, even without platform summaries.
- We work out what is genuinely owed, and whether penalties can be appealed.
- We prepare the outstanding returns and explain the figures before anything is submitted.
- We file with HMRC and deal with any correspondence that follows.
- We set up your record-keeping for the current year so you are not back here next January.
Behind on a Driver Tax Return?
One year or several, records or no records. Tell us where you are and we will tell you what it takes to put right. Fixed fees, free first conversation, no judgement.
Former Ola Drivers: Common Questions
Missing records, late filing, penalties and returns covering more than one platform.
Ola leaving the UK
Yes, for any tax year in which you earned from driving. Ola ceased UK ride-hailing operations in April 2024, but that has no bearing on your obligations for the years you were driving. If your gross self-employment income was over £1,000 in a tax year, a return was due for that year regardless of whether the platform still exists.
This is the most common problem we see with former Ola drivers, and it is workable. Bank statements showing the payments in are usually enough to establish your income for the year. Combined with your licensing records, MOT and service history, and any fuel receipts, we can put together a return that is properly supported. HMRC expects reasonable records, not perfect ones — what matters is that the figures are honest and you can show how you arrived at them.
If you have stopped driving altogether and have no other self-employment, yes — you should tell HMRC so they stop expecting returns. If you moved to another platform, you have not stopped being self-employed at all and nothing needs deregistering. We can check which applies to you.
Late returns and penalties
There is no cut-off. You can file a return years after the deadline, and it is always better to file late than not at all — penalties stop building once the return is in. HMRC may also issue a determination estimating what you owe if a return stays outstanding, and a determination can only be displaced by filing the actual return. If you are behind, filing is the thing that improves your position.
An automatic £100 the day after the deadline, even where no tax is owed. At three months, daily penalties of £10 for up to 90 days. At six months, a further 5% of the tax due or £300, whichever is higher. At twelve months, another 5% or £300. Late payment penalties and interest run alongside. The figures are set by HMRC and can change, so check the current position or ask us.
Sometimes. HMRC will cancel a penalty where there is a reasonable excuse — serious illness, bereavement, a genuine failure of HMRC systems, and similar. Not knowing you had to file is not usually accepted on its own, though the full circumstances matter. We will tell you honestly whether we think an appeal has a reasonable prospect before you spend money on it.
Filing voluntarily is viewed considerably more favourably than being found. HMRC receives income data directly from platforms under digital reporting rules, so undeclared driving income is increasingly likely to surface anyway. Coming forward and putting it right is the better position by some distance. If HMRC has already written to you, that is worth discussing before you reply.
Moving between platforms
One. You were self-employed throughout, so all the income for that tax year goes on a single Self Assessment return regardless of how many platforms it came from. What makes these returns fiddly is the records rather than the rules — two sets of statements, a gap in the middle, and often nothing at all from the platform that closed.
Vehicle costs, mileage, insurance and licence fees relate to the driving as a whole, not to any one platform, so they are claimed once against your total income. Platform commission is the exception — each is claimed against the income it was deducted from. In practice we total everything and apportion where necessary.
Not really our call, and it depends on your area and hours. What we can do is show you what each was actually paying you once fuel, mileage and commission were accounted for — which is often not the answer drivers expect. We have pages on the tax side for Uber, Bolt and Veezu drivers.
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.