IRS Mileage Deduction Calculator 2026

2026 IRS Standard Mileage Rates (Full Table)

The IRS publishes optional standard mileage rates each year that taxpayers can use instead of tracking actual vehicle costs. For 2026, IRS Notice 2026-10 set the business rate at 72.5¢ per mile, up 2.5¢ from the 2025 figure. The medical and moving rate landed at 20.5¢. Charitable stayed flat at 14¢, since Congress sets that one by statute and it does not move with inflation. The same rates cover gasoline, diesel, hybrid, and fully electric vehicles.

How the Mileage Deduction Is Calculated and Reported

The formula is simple: miles driven multiplied by the applicable IRS rate, plus parking and tolls (business trips only), minus any reimbursement you already received under an accountable plan. The result cannot drop below zero, so a generous reimbursement just zeros out the deduction rather than creating taxable income at the deduction line.

Where it gets reported depends on the use:

• Self-employed: Schedule C, Part IV (Car and Truck Expenses), with Form 4562 in the first year a vehicle is placed in service.
• Medical: Schedule A, subject to the 7.5% of AGI medical-expense floor.
• Charitable: Schedule A, in the contributions section.
• Eligible W-2 exceptions: Form 2106, then carried to Schedule 1.

For Schedule C filers, mileage has a second benefit beyond income tax: it cuts self-employment tax too. Net Schedule C income (after mileage and other expenses) flows through Schedule SE, where it gets multiplied by 92.35% and then by the 15.3% combined Social Security and Medicare rate. That works out to roughly 14.13¢ of SE-tax savings on every dollar of business mileage deduction.

Standard Mileage vs Actual Expense Method

You can pick either method each year, with two catches. First, if you want the flexibility to switch to the standard rate later, you have to start with it in the first year the vehicle is placed in business service. Second, you cannot use the standard rate after taking Section 179 expensing, accelerated MACRS depreciation, or after operating five or more vehicles at the same time.

A rough rule of thumb: the standard rate wins for older, cheaper, high-mileage vehicles, where 72.5¢ per mile overstates your real cost. The actual-expense method wins for newer, more expensive vehicles, especially in the first few years when depreciation runs heavy. Worked example: 18,000 business miles in a five-year-old Toyota Corolla nets a $13,050 standard deduction in 2026. The same miles in a brand-new $60,000 electric SUV might generate $15,000 to $18,000 of actual expenses (depreciation, insurance, electricity, tires, maintenance, registration, the business-use share). Run both numbers in year one before you lock the method in.

Recordkeeping the IRS Will Accept

A compliant mileage log captures four fields for each trip: date, miles driven, destination, and business purpose. Mileage apps, spreadsheets, and paper logbooks all qualify if they catch those four data points. Also keep odometer readings at the start and end of the tax year, plus receipts for parking and tolls. The IRS does not require a particular format, but it does require the log to be contemporaneous, meaning written at or near the time of each trip.

Reconstructed logs put together months after the fact tend to fail audits. The Tax Court has repeatedly disallowed reconstructed mileage when the only evidence was a year-end summary built from calendar entries. The safest practice is a tracking app that logs trips automatically by GPS, with weekly review to tag personal vs business and add the purpose. Tax47 isn't a mileage tracker, but if you bring a clean log into the app, the 2026 estimator applies these rates correctly inside your full federal and state refund picture.