Guide
IRS Standard Mileage Rate 2026: Full Table & How to Claim It
General information, not tax advice. Always check the current rules on irs.gov or with a tax professional before filing.
2026 is an unusual year for mileage deductions: the IRS set the business rate at 72.5 cents per mile effective January 1, then raised it mid-year to 76 cents per mile effective July 1, citing rising fuel prices. Mid-year adjustments are rare — the last ones were in 2022 and 2011 — and they have a very practical consequence: your mileage log needs dates, because trips before and after July 1 are reimbursed at different rates.
The 2026 rates at a glance
| Purpose | Jan 1 – Jun 30, 2026 | Jul 1 – Dec 31, 2026 | 2025 (for reference) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business | 72.5¢ / mile | 76¢ / mile | 70¢ / mile |
| Medical | 20.5¢ / mile | 23.5¢ / mile | 21¢ / mile |
| Moving (military only) | 20.5¢ / mile | 23.5¢ / mile | 21¢ / mile |
| Charitable | 14¢ / mile | 14¢ / mile | 14¢ / mile |
A quick example
Say you drove 6,000 business miles from January through June and 6,000 more from July through December:
(6,000 × $0.725) + (6,000 × $0.76) = $4,350 + $4,560 = $8,910 deductible. Using a single rate for the whole year would get that number wrong in either direction — the split matters.
Who can use the standard mileage rate
- Self-employed and independent contractors (Schedule C) — the main audience. You choose between the standard rate and actual vehicle expenses.
- W-2 employees generally cannot deduct unreimbursed job mileage on their federal return — but employers commonly reimburse at the IRS rate, and that reimbursement needs the same documented log.
- Gig drivers (rideshare, delivery) are self-employed for this purpose and typically benefit heavily from the standard rate.
To use the standard rate you must choose it in the first year the car is used for business; after that you can switch between standard and actual expenses (with some depreciation caveats).
What the IRS expects your mileage log to contain
The IRS asks for contemporaneous records — kept at or near the time of the trip, not reconstructed at filing time. For each business trip:
| Field | Why it matters in 2026 |
|---|---|
| Date | Determines whether the 72.5¢ or 76¢ rate applies |
| Start and end location | Shows the route was plausible for the stated purpose |
| Miles driven | The number the deduction is computed from |
| Business purpose | Separates deductible trips from personal driving |
Your phone already kept the log for you
If you use Google Maps, your Timeline has been recording every drive with GPS timestamps and distances — which is exactly the kind of contemporaneous record the IRS favors. Turning it into a usable log takes minutes:
- Export your Timeline from your phone (see our Timeline export guide).
- Open the file in Time-mile — everything is processed locally in your browser, your location history never touches a server.
- Filter to driving trips and split the year at July 1 with the date filter to apply the right rate to each half.
- Export a CSV to multiply miles by the applicable rate in a spreadsheet, or a PDF report for your records.
Build your 2026 mileage log from real GPS data
Import your Google Timeline once, export a clean, dated report in minutes.
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