The IRS publishes a rate per mile each year for driving your own car for business, medical care, charity or a military move. Multiply it by your logged miles and you have the deduction, or the most an employer can pay you for mileage tax-free.
The 2026 rate changed on July 1
For miles driven January 1 to June 30, 2026, the business rate is 72.5 cents a mile and the medical and military moving rate is 20.5 cents (IRS Notice 2026-10). From July 1 the IRS raised them to 76 cents and 23.5 cents (Announcement 2026-11), only the second midyear change in a decade; the last was in July 2022. The charity rate stays at 14 cents because Congress, not the IRS, sets it.
So a 2026 deduction takes two lines: first-half miles at 72.5 cents and second-half miles at 76 cents. Your mileage log has the dates. For 2025 the business rate was 70 cents all year (Notice 2025-5), and for 2024 it was 67 cents (Notice 2024-08).
The standard rate or your actual costs
You can deduct either the standard rate times your business miles, or the business share of what the car actually cost you: gas, oil, repairs, insurance, registration, depreciation or lease payments. The rate is simpler because it replaces the receipts. To use it on a car you own, you have to choose it in the first year you use the car for business.
When your employer pays mileage
Under an "accountable plan", where you log the business purpose and miles and hand back any advance you did not use, mileage pay up to the IRS rate is tax-free and stays off your W-2 wages.
Pay above the IRS rate is taxed as wages, with income tax, Social Security and Medicare withheld on the extra. If your employer has no accountable plan, all of the mileage pay is taxed as wages.
W-2 employees usually cannot deduct mileage
Since 2018, employees have not been able to deduct work miles their employer does not pay for, and the 2025 tax law (the One Big Beautiful Bill Act) made that permanent. Armed Forces reservists, fee-basis state and local officials, some performing artists and eligible educators are the exceptions.
Self-employed people, 1099 contractors, single-member LLCs and gig drivers deduct business miles on Schedule C, against their business income.
Questions about this calculator
Can I deduct commuting miles between my home and office?
No. Commuting from your home to your primary regular workplace is a personal expense according to IRS regulations and is never deductible, regardless of distance. However, driving from your main office to a client site, traveling between two job sites, or visiting temporary work locations qualifies as deductible business mileage.
What records must I keep to prove my mileage to the IRS?
Under IRC §274(d), you must keep a contemporaneous written mileage log. The log must record: (1) date of the trip, (2) starting location and destination, (3) business purpose, and (4) exact odometer reading or total miles driven. Generic estimates or round numbers reconstructed at tax time will be disallowed in an audit.
Can I deduct parking fees and tolls in addition to the standard mileage rate?
Yes. Business-related parking fees and highway/bridge tolls are deductible separately in addition to the standard mileage rate deduction. However, parking fees at your regular workplace are considered commuting costs and cannot be deducted.
Terms used here
Standard mileage rate
An IRS-established dollar rate per mile that replaces itemized gas, insurance, maintenance, and depreciation deductions.
Accountable plan
An employer expense reimbursement arrangement meeting IRS requirements of business connection, substantiation, and return of excess advances, rendering reimbursements tax-free.
Depreciation component
The part of the business rate the IRS treats as depreciation: 35¢ a mile for 2026, 33¢ for 2025 and 30¢ for 2024. It lowers the car’s tax basis, which matters when you sell it.
Schedule C
The IRS tax schedule used by sole proprietors and 1099 self-employed individuals to report profit or loss from business, including vehicle deductions.
Practical tips
Use a smartphone mileage tracking app with automated GPS logging to ensure you meet IRS contemporaneous substantiation rules.
If you purchase a high-cost vehicle or drive fewer miles with high maintenance and depreciation, calculate actual expenses to verify which method produces a larger tax write-off.
Limits and caveats
W-2 employees generally cannot deduct miles their employer does not pay for, so it is worth asking for mileage pay under an accountable plan instead.
You cannot claim the standard mileage rate if you previously took Section 179 expensing or MACRS depreciation on the vehicle.
What the calculation includes, what it leaves out, and how it rounds.
The 2026 rates. For miles driven January 1 to June 30, 2026: 72.5¢ a mile for business, 20.5¢ for medical care and military moves, and 14¢ for charity (IRS Notice 2026-10). From July 1 the IRS raised business to 76¢ and medical and moving to 23.5¢ (IRS Announcement 2026-11). Charity stays at 14¢, a figure set by law rather than by the IRS. For 2025 the business rate was 70¢ all year.
Mileage pay from an employer. Under an accountable plan (you log the miles and hand back any advance you did not use), mileage pay up to the IRS rate for the date you drove is tax-free and stays off your W-2 wages. Anything above that rate is taxed as pay. Without an accountable plan, all of it is taxed as pay.
Who can deduct it. Self-employed people, 1099 contractors and gig drivers deduct business miles on Schedule C. W-2 employees cannot deduct miles their employer does not pay for: the deduction was suspended in 2018 and the 2025 tax law made that permanent. A few groups, such as Armed Forces reservists and fee-basis state or local officials, still can.
Calculation receipt
What each number here is
This answer is built from published figures. Each one is named below, with the release it came from.
VERIFIEDIRS Standard Mileage Rates
Sets the figures this answer is made of. Without it the page says so rather than estimating.
If a source above is unavailable or out of date: The IRS sets the rate by notice each year and can change it midyear. Without it the page cannot work out a deduction or the taxable part of mileage pay.
