Mileage Claim Calculator Ireland (Civil Service Rates 2026)

Calculate the maximum tax-free mileage reimbursement for business journeys in your own car, using the official civil service motoring rates published by Revenue (in force since 1 September 2022 and unchanged as of June 2026). Enter your total business kilometres for the calendar year; the calculator applies the cumulative distance bands automatically.

At a glance: this page covers the current mileage bands, how EVs and hybrids are treated, when the annual kilometre counter resets, and why subsistence is claimed under separate rules.

How the civil service mileage bands work

These rates are cumulative across the calendar year, not a single per-kilometre allowance. The first 1,500 business kilometres sit in Band 1, the next 4,000 km fall into Band 2, kilometres from 5,501 to 25,000 move into Band 3, and any distance above 25,000 uses Band 4. Revenue continues to accept the civil service motoring rates for tax-free reimbursement, and the structure in force in 2026 is the one introduced on 1 September 2022.

In practice, your reimbursement changes as your annual total grows. Manual spreadsheets often go wrong by applying one rate to the full annual distance instead of splitting the claim across each band. The framework is a four-band system through 2026, with thresholds of 0-1,500 km, 1,501-5,500 km, 5,501-25,000 km, and over 25,000 km.

Worked example: if you drive 10,000 business kilometres in the year in the 1201cc-1500cc column, the first 1,500 km are reimbursed at 43.40c, the next 4,000 km at 79.18c, and the remaining 4,500 km at 31.79c. You do not get 31.79c or 79.18c on the entire 10,000 km.

Fully electric vehicles use the same column as 1201cc-1500cc cars, while hybrids use their actual engine size rather than a separate hybrid table. So an EV gets 43.40c in the first band and 79.18c in the second under the current published figures. The counter resets on 1 January each year, so enter total business kilometres for the current calendar year, not a rolling 12-month total.

The rules in brief

Tax-free reimbursement is available where an employee or director uses a private vehicle for genuine business travel and the employer pays no more than the approved civil service rate. That includes many owner-directors using their own car for company business. If an employer pays more than the approved amount, the excess is generally treated as taxable pay under Revenue’s travel and subsistence rules.

A business journey is not the same as ordinary commuting. Travel between home and your normal place of work is usually private travel and does not qualify. Travel to meet a client, attend a temporary off-site meeting, visit a supplier, or move between work locations may qualify instead, depending on the facts.

Record-keeping matters. Keep a log showing the date, destination, business purpose, start and end points, and kilometres travelled, and retain supporting documents where possible. Revenue’s manual on travel and subsistence sets out the evidence expected when tax-free expenses are paid.

Why do people search for revenue mileage rates 2026 when the table itself is called the civil service rate? In Ireland, Revenue accepts the published civil service motoring rates as the benchmark for tax-free reimbursement of business travel in a private car, so the two labels are used interchangeably. This page therefore covers civil service mileage rates 2026, mileage rates Ireland 2026, and revenue mileage rates 2026 in one place.

Subsistence is separate from mileage. The current domestic overnight rate is EUR 205.53 and the 10-hour day rate is EUR 46.17 (effective 29 January 2025), with eligibility depending on time away, distance, and the conditions of the trip rather than kilometres alone. Full background and the subsistence tables are in our guide to the civil service mileage and subsistence rates. If you run your own company, mileage is only one part of extracting value: see how to pay yourself as a director, or talk to us about payroll for your Irish Ltd.

Source: Revenue, civil service rates (checked 10 June 2026). This calculator is a guide, not tax advice.

How we built and checked this mileage calculator

The calculator uses the published four-band civil service structure and applies each band cumulatively to the annual business-kilometre figure you enter. It does not multiply your full distance by a single rate; it slices the total across the relevant thresholds and totals the result for the vehicle category selected.

We built the logic around three assumptions only: the travel is allowable business travel, the vehicle is your private car, and the claim is measured against the approved civil service motoring rates currently accepted by Revenue. It does not decide whether a journey qualifies, whether your company policy is stricter, or whether another reimbursement method applies.

The tool was checked at 1,500 km, 1,501 km, 5,500 km, 5,501 km, 25,000 km, and 25,001 km, because calculators often fail where the band changes. EVs map to the 1201cc-1500cc column and hybrids do not have a separate rate table.