Mileage Deduction Calculator

Four kinds of driving, four different rates

The IRS does not pay one mileage rate. It publishes a separate figure for business driving, medical travel, a move under military orders, and charity work, and the gaps between them are large. In the second half of 2026 a business mile is worth 76 cents while a charity mile is worth 14 cents, which is more than five times less for the same gallon of gas.

2026 also has two sets of rates. The IRS raised the business, medical and moving figures at midyear because fuel prices climbed, so a mile driven in March is worth less than the same mile driven in September. Use the rate for the date you drove, not the date you file.

The charity rate is set by statute rather than by the annual cost study, which is why it has sat at 14 cents for years while every other rate moved. The IRS standard mileage rate page is the table to check before you file, and it lists the midyear change separately from the January figure.

Why the business rate rose on July 1, 2026

Standard mileage rates come from a yearly study of what it costs to own and run a car: fuel, insurance, repairs, tires, depreciation, registration. The business rate uses the full cost, fixed and variable. The medical and moving rates use only the variable cost, on the theory that you were going to own the car anyway.

When fuel spiked in the spring, the IRS did something it rarely does and revised the rates midyear. Business driving went from 72.5 to 76 cents, and medical and moving went from 20.5 to 23.5 cents. The charity rate stayed at 14 cents because Congress sets it, not the IRS.

If you want a second benchmark, the federal government publishes its own reimbursement rate for a privately owned vehicle through the General Services Administration, and it is usually close to the IRS business rate.

For a driver with 12,000 business miles, that midyear bump is worth $420. The same miles at 72.5 cents produce a $8,700 deduction, and at 76 cents they produce $9,120. Splitting the year properly matters: 6,000 miles in each half gives $4,350 plus $4,560, or $8,910, which is $210 more than applying the January rate to the whole year.

Worked example: 12,000 business miles

A rideshare driver logs 12,000 business miles between July and December 2026. At 76 cents a mile the deduction is $9,120. In the 22% bracket that deduction removes $2,006.40 of federal income tax, and because the driver is self-employed it also removes $1,288.61 of self-employment tax, for a combined benefit of $3,295.01.

The same 12,000 miles driven in the first half of the year would produce $8,700, or $1,914 of income tax at 22%. The difference between the two halves is $420 of deduction and $92.40 of tax, which is real money for a driver who can choose when to take a long trip.

Compare the categories at the same mileage and the reason to track purpose becomes obvious.

A driver who also drives 1,200 miles to medical appointments and 500 miles for a charity gets $282 and $70 on top of the business deduction, but those two only help if the driver itemizes. The business miles help either way.

Who can deduct mileage, and who cannot

This is where most people lose the deduction before they start. If you are a W-2 employee, you cannot deduct unreimbursed mileage on your federal return. The 2017 tax law suspended miscellaneous itemized deductions, which is the category that used to hold employee business expenses, and the 2025 tax law made that suspension permanent.

The people who can still claim mileage fall into a few groups:

• Self-employed drivers. Rideshare, delivery, contractors, consultants, and anyone with a Schedule C. This is the big one.
• Farmers and landlords. Mileage for farm business or for managing rental property goes on Schedule F or Schedule E.
• Reservists and certain state or local officials. Travel to drills or official duties can be deducted above the line, which means without itemizing.
• Some performing artists and fee basis officials. Narrow categories, but they survived the law change.
• Educators. A limited above-the-line deduction for unreimbursed expenses, and an itemized option for travel.
• Active duty military and certain intelligence community members moving under orders, for the moving rate only.

If your employer reimburses you at the standard rate, there is nothing to deduct. If your employer reimburses less than the standard rate, an employee still cannot claim the difference on a federal return. Some states allow it, which is a separate calculation on a separate return.

Medical, moving and charity miles carry extra rules

Medical miles cover trips to a doctor, dentist, hospital, pharmacy, or a treatment facility, plus a parent driving a child to care. They are an itemized deduction, so they only count if you itemize and only the amount above 7.5% of adjusted gross income, combined with your other medical costs. A household with modest medical spending often gets no benefit at all.

Moving miles are limited to active duty members of the armed forces relocating under orders to a permanent change of station, and to certain intelligence community employees under the 2025 law. A civilian who moves for a new job cannot deduct the drive, and cannot deduct the moving truck either.

Charity miles are deductible only if you itemize, and only at 14 cents. You cannot add gas, oil, or wear on top of the 14 cents, though parking and tolls paid for the charitable trip are allowed as a separate item. A volunteer who drives 500 miles for a food bank gets a $70 deduction.

Parking and tolls work differently from the mileage rate in every category. They are deductible on top of the standard rate for business driving, and they are not part of the 76 cents. Keep those receipts separately, because a $40 bridge toll can be worth more than 50 business miles.

Standard mileage rate or actual expenses

You have two ways to claim car costs, and you cannot mix them for the same vehicle in the same year. The standard mileage rate is simple: miles times the rate, with parking and tolls added. Actual expenses means tracking gas, insurance, repairs, tires, registration, and depreciation, then multiplying the total by the business use percentage.

The choice locks in for a leased car. If you use the standard rate in the first year of a lease, you must keep using it for the rest of the lease. If you use actual expenses in that first year, you stay on actual expenses. For an owned car you can switch from standard to actual later, but not the other way around.

The standard rate usually wins for a paid off, fuel efficient car driven many business miles, because the fixed cost per mile is low and the 76 cents is generous. Actual expenses usually win for an expensive vehicle with high insurance and a big depreciation number, or for a year with a major repair. Run both once and keep the numbers, because the decision is yours to make each year.

One number worth knowing: the business rate includes a depreciation allowance, which is why using the standard rate reduces your basis in the car. Sell it later and the taxable gain is larger. That is the hidden cost of the simple method, and it is explained in IRS Publication 463.

What the deduction is worth at each bracket

A deduction is not a refund. It reduces taxable income, so its value depends on your marginal rate. The same $9,120 of business mileage is worth $1,094 to someone in the 12% bracket and $3,374 to someone in the 37% bracket. A self-employed driver also saves self-employment tax on the same dollars, which adds 14.13 cents per dollar of deduction.

The self-employment column is not available to an employee, and it is not available for medical, moving, or charity miles either. It applies to business mileage on a Schedule C, where the deduction lowers the net profit that the 15.3% self-employment tax is calculated on.

For a self-employed driver in the 22% bracket, 12,000 business miles turns into roughly $275 a month of tax benefit across the year, once the self-employment tax saving is counted. That is a useful way to think about it when you are deciding whether the extra trip is worth taking.

Records that hold up if you are questioned

The IRS does not require a specific form, but it does require contemporaneous records. A calendar entry made the same day is worth far more than a spreadsheet rebuilt in April. For each trip the agency wants the date, the destination, the business purpose, and the miles.

A mileage log app handles this automatically, and most of them export a PDF that satisfies the requirement. If you use a paper notebook, write the odometer reading at the start and end of each business day, not each trip, and note the purpose once. Commuting miles never count, so the log should start when you leave your first business stop, not when you leave home.

Keep the log for three years after the return is filed, and longer if you claimed depreciation, because the basis calculation runs to the year you sell the car. A bank statement showing gas purchases proves you bought fuel, not that you drove for business, so the log is the part that matters.

This is an estimate for planning, not tax advice. Rates and deduction rules change, and your situation may be different, so confirm the figures with the IRS or a tax professional before you file.