Civil Service Mileage Rates in Ireland (2026)
The mileage allowance in Ireland lets employers reimburse staff tax-free for using their own vehicle on business journeys, using Revenue's civil service mileage rates. The current rate table has been in force since 1 September 2022 under DPER Circular 16/2022, and it works on a cumulative distance-band system rather than a single flat rate.
Car Mileage Rates (Cent per Kilometre)
Source: Revenues civil service rates (motor travel rates from 1 September 2022).
How the Distance Bands Work
Business kilometres are cumulative across the year, not per journey. Each new kilometre is paid at the rate for the band it falls into. The first band covers your earliest business kilometres of the year, the second (and highest) band covers the next 4,000 km, and the rate then drops in the third and fourth bands. The count runs across the year, so track it from the start of January.
Worked example
An employee with a 1201cc to 1500cc car drives 6,000 business kilometres in a year. The reimbursement is built band by band:
Second worked example: an electric car
An employee drives an electric car for 10,000 business kilometres in a year. Electric cars use the 1201cc to 1500cc rates:
Electric and Hybrid Vehicles
- Fully electric vehicles use the rates for engine capacity 1201cc to 1500cc, because they have no engine capacity of their own.
- Hybrid vehicles are claimed at the rates for the equivalent internal combustion engine capacity. They should not be claimed in the electric vehicle category.
Reduced Mileage Rates
Reduced rates apply to journeys associated with an employee's job but not solely related to performing those duties. Examples include travel to confirmed promotion competitions and attendance at approved courses of education or conferences.
Motorcycle Rates
Bicycle Rate
A flat 8 cent per kilometre applies to bicycles, regardless of distance.
What Counts as a Business Journey?
The civil service rates apply to business journeys, such as travelling to a client, a second work site or a training venue. Ordinary commuting between home and a normal place of work is generally not a business journey. Revenue explains the difference here: Business journeys and Normal place of work.
Paying More or Less Than the Civil Service Rate
Employers can pay less than the civil service rate, or set their own rates up to the civil service maximum. Anything paid above the civil service rate is taxable as additional pay rather than a tax-free reimbursement.
Recordkeeping and Reporting
To reimburse mileage tax-free, keep a proper log for each claim: date, start and end location, business purpose and distance. Since Enhanced Reporting Requirements began, employers must also report mileage reimbursements to Revenue through payroll. Keep records for at least six years.
Common Mileage Mistakes
- Using a flat per-kilometre figure for the whole year instead of the cumulative bands.
- Claiming an electric car at a petrol engine rate, or a hybrid in the electric category.
- Paying for commuting between home and a normal place of work as if it were a business journey.
- Paying above the civil service rate and treating the whole amount as tax-free.
- Not keeping a journey log, which leaves the reimbursement hard to support.
How CleverCards Helps with Mileage Reimbursement
Rather than reimbursing mileage through payroll weeks after the trip, employers can fund a CleverCards expense card with the reimbursement as soon as a trip is approved, and keep a clear digital record of each payment. Combined with the mileage log Revenue expects, this turns reimbursement from a monthly admin task into something that happens the same day. If your team also travels overnight, see the current civil service subsistence rates and our guide to per diem allowances. To explore the cards themselves, visit prepaid cards for businesses. CleverCards also handles tax-free staff rewards under the Small Benefit Exemption.
- Log the journey with the date, route, purpose and distance.
- Work out the amount using the cumulative rate table above.
- Fund a CleverCards expense card with the reimbursement and send it by email.
- Keep the digital record alongside the journey log for reporting and audit.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Fully electric vehicles use the civil service mileage rates for engine capacity 1201cc to 1500cc.
Hybrid vehicles use the civil service mileage rates for the equivalent internal combustion engine capacity. A hybrid should not be claimed in the electric vehicle category.
Yes, but the portion above the civil service mileage rate is treated as taxable pay rather than a tax-free reimbursement. An employer can also set its own lower mileage rates.
Civil service mileage rates apply to cumulative kilometres across the year. The first 1,500 km fall in Band 1, the next 4,000 km (1,501 to 5,500) in Band 2, then 5,501 to 25,000 km in Band 3, and anything above 25,000 km in Band 4. The rate per kilometre changes with each band.
An employer should keep a log of each journey with the date, start and end locations, business purpose and distance travelled, and keep the log for at least six years to support the tax-free mileage reimbursement if Revenue asks.
Generally no. Ordinary commuting between home and a normal place of work is not a business journey, so commuting does not qualify for the civil service mileage rates. See Revenues guidance on business journeys.
The civil service bicycle mileage rate is a flat 8 cent per kilometre.
Yes, when mileage is reimbursed to an employee or director. Since Enhanced Reporting Requirements began, an employer reports those reimbursements to Revenue through payroll, on or before the payment date. Expenses an employer pays directly to a provider, for example through a company card, are not currently in scope.
Yes. An employer can fund a CleverCards expense card with the mileage amount as soon as a trip is approved, so the employee is reimbursed the same day rather than waiting for the next payroll run, with a digital record kept automatically for the mileage log.
Generally no. The civil service mileage rates are for reimbursing employees and directors through payroll. A sole trader usually claims actual business vehicle costs instead.