Business bank account for taxi and Uber drivers UK

The short answer

Most taxi and private hire drivers work for themselves. That makes them sole traders for tax: they register for Self Assessment, pay Income Tax and National Insurance on profit, and claim their running costs. The account you use is your choice. This page covers what matters when choosing one: app payouts, cash fares, card fares, the cost of running the car and setting tax aside.

Do taxi and Uber drivers need a business bank account?

No law requires a self-employed driver to have one. HMRC asks you to keep records of your business income and expenses and to keep them for at least five years after the 31 January submission deadline of the relevant tax year. It does not say the account must be a business one. Our guide on whether sole traders need a business account goes into the detail.

A separate account helps drivers more than most, because the money is so mixed:

• Payouts from one or more apps, plus cash fares and perhaps account work.
• Fuel or charging, insurance, licensing fees, servicing, car finance or hire, phone and app commission.
• Personal use of the same car, which needs to be split out.

Keep all of that in a personal account and the tax return becomes an evening with a highlighter. Keep it in a separate account, and the statement is most of the work. If you drive through a limited company, it must have its own account; our limited company guide covers that.

App payouts and HMRC reporting

Ride-hailing apps pay drivers into a bank account the driver nominates. Each platform sets its own payout timing and the account types it accepts, so check its help pages before switching your payout account, and make sure the name on the account matches your driver profile.

Platforms now report what they pay you. Under the UK digital platform reporting rules, in force since 1 January 2024, platform operators report sellers’ details and earnings to HMRC each year. HMRC’s guidance for sellers lists “driving a taxi” as an example of a personal service, and HMRC’s operator guidance uses a taxi booking platform as a worked example. The exemption for sellers with fewer than 30 sales and under 2,000 euros applies only to goods, so it does not help drivers.

The platform must give you a copy of what it reported. HMRC says a report does not automatically mean you owe tax, but it does mean HMRC can see your platform income, so your Self Assessment figures should be consistent with it. The report covers the calendar year; your return covers 6 April to 5 April. Keeping your own records in one account is how you reconcile the two.

Cash fares

Cash is still common in taxis, and it is where app-based banks are weakest. Monzo Business takes cash at any PayPoint or Post Office for £1 per deposit, and many PayPoints are in petrol stations and late-opening shops. Monzo’s help pages give a sole trader limit of £3,000 a month (sole traders), roughly £692 a week.

Paying in once a week costs about £4 a month. Paying in daily costs much more, so batching helps. A driver who takes most fares in cash may simply exceed the limit, and then needs a different main account.

Sources: Starling, Tide, Mettle, Lloyds. Whatever account you use, record cash fares as you take them. They are income whether or not you bank them, and they are the part of a driver’s income no platform reports. The Monzo Business cash deposits page has the full detail.

Taking card fares yourself

Drivers who take fares directly, rather than through an app, can accept cards on their phone. Monzo Business includes Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android, no card reader, on every plan. Stripe charges £0.20 + 1.4% for UK and European cards; Monzo says it adds nothing on top. Phone requirements: iPhone Xs or later on iOS 16.7+; Android 13+ with NFC. Powered by Stripe.

For comparison, Starling’s Tap to Pay is 1.6% per transaction, no monthly fee, and Tide’s is Tap to Pay 1.5% + 11p; card reader 1.5% + 5p (pay as you go). On short fares a fixed per-payment fee is a bigger share of the fare, so compare on your typical fare, not a round number.

Licensing authorities set their own rules for licensed vehicles, and some have requirements about accepting cards or the equipment used. Check with your council before relying on a phone instead of a fitted terminal.

Fuel and running costs

Running the car is a driver’s biggest cost, and how you claim it shapes how you should bank. HMRC gives self-employed people a choice (simplified expenses):

• Flat rate mileage. Claim a fixed amount per business mile instead of actual vehicle costs. You need a record of business miles.
• Actual costs. Claim the business share of fuel, insurance, repairs, servicing, road tax and finance, which needs receipts and a split between business and personal use.

Simplified expenses are for sole traders and some partnerships, not limited companies. HMRC’s checker compares the two methods. If you claim actual costs, paying everything for the car from the business account, with the receipt photographed against each transaction, is the easiest evidence there is. Monzo Business lets you attach receipts to transactions on every plan, and Pro and Team sync with Xero, FreeAgent, Sage and QuickBooks.

Tax pots and Making Tax Digital

Drivers are paid weekly or daily but pay tax twice a year, so setting money aside matters. The Self Assessment online deadline is 31 January (GOV.UK), which for the 2025 to 2026 tax year means 31 January 2027.

On Monzo Business Pro (£9 a month) or Team, you can have up to 3 Tax Pots, each taking a percentage of every incoming payment, moved automatically. A driver might set one at a percentage of each payout for Income Tax and National Insurance. The tax set-aside calculator suggests a figure, and our Tax Pots page explains how they work.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax applies to sole traders whose qualifying income, meaning gross income before expenses, is over £50,000 now, £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028 (HMRC). Because it is measured on gross fares, a full-time driver can be over the threshold even with modest profit after fuel and commission. Monzo includes free Making Tax Digital for Income Tax software, built on Sage on every plan, including Lite. Our MTD guide covers the quarterly updates.

A simple weekly routine

Drivers who keep on top of the books usually do the same few things every week, and a separate account makes each one quick.

1. Check the payouts. Compare each platform payout with the earnings summary in the driver app. Mistakes are easier to raise the same week.
2. Bank the cash. Pay the week’s cash fares in one deposit, and note the total against the week in your records.
3. Snap the receipts. Fuel, car wash, parking and repairs: photograph each receipt against the transaction while it is fresh.
4. Log the miles. If you use the flat rate method, record business miles weekly rather than reconstructing them at the year end.
5. Top up the tax pot. If you set aside a percentage of each payout automatically, check that cash fares are covered too, and move extra by hand if not.

Fifteen minutes a week this way is the difference between a tax return that takes an evening and one that takes a weekend. If you drive through a limited company rather than as a sole trader, the routine is similar but the company pays you a salary or dividends; see our guide to paying yourself from a limited company.

Accounts for taxi and Uber drivers compared

Mostly app and card fares: a free app account works well, and Monzo Lite or Starling are the obvious starting points. Compare them on our Monzo Business vs Starling page. Mostly cash: look at the high-street banks, or keep one for cash alongside an app account, as our alternatives page explains.

Open Monzo Business through our link and we both get £50. It is only for people who have never had a Monzo account of any kind and who complete the four steps within 30 days. A platform payout or a cash deposit does not count as the qualifying card payment; filling up with the card does.