Quick answer
If you deliver as a self-employed rider or driver, your app earnings are self-employment turnover. The total paid to you, before fuel and other costs, counts towards the MTD threshold. If you’re paid through payslips as an employee, that income doesn’t count.
Key facts
App payouts and tips are self-employment income
Gross earnings count towards the threshold
Simplified mileage: 55p a mile for the first 10,000 miles in 2026/27
Payslip income from a delivery job doesn’t count for MTD
Self-employed or employed?
HMRC’s side hustle guidance points out that if you get a payslip for delivery work, tax is handled through PAYE and you don’t report it separately. Most app-based riders are self-employed, which means their earnings are turnover for MTD.
When MTD applies
Start date | Qualifying income over | Based on your tax return for |
|---|---|---|
6 April 2026 | £50,000 | 2024/25 |
6 April 2027 | £30,000 | 2025/26 |
6 April 2028 | £20,000 | 2026/27 |
Busy full-time couriers can easily pass £30,000 in gross payouts, even though fuel and vehicle costs take a large share. The test is on what you were paid, not what you kept.
Vehicle costs: two methods
You can claim either actual running costs (fuel, insurance, repairs, servicing, road tax) or a flat rate per business mile. For 2026/27 the flat rate is 55p a mile for the first 10,000 miles in a car or van, then 25p, and 24p a mile on a motorcycle. Once you choose the flat rate for a vehicle, you stay with it while you use that vehicle for work.
Other costs you can claim
Business use of your phone
Parking, tolls and congestion charges while working
Delivery bags and equipment
Protective clothing used only for work
Parking fines and speeding tickets can’t be claimed, even if you got them while working.
Records under MTD
Download weekly or monthly statements from each app, and keep a mileage log with dates and miles. Several apps on HMRC’s software list can import transactions. See recording mileage under MTD.
Use the MTD checker to see your own start date.