IRS Mileage Rate 2026: 72.5 Cents Per Mile (Official Rate + Deduction Calculator)

Source: IRS Notice IR-2025-128, December 29, 2025 | Effective: January 1, 2026 | Updated: June 2026

The IRS set the 2026 standard business mileage rate at 72.5 cents per mile — the highest it has ever been. That is up 2.5 cents from the 2025 rate of 70 cents.

If you drive for work and track your miles, every 1,000 business miles you log in 2026 is worth a $725 tax deduction. At 15,000 business miles, that is $10,875 coming off your taxable income — without collecting a single gas receipt.

Here is everything you need to know about the 2026 rate: what it covers, who can use it, how to calculate your deduction, and what the IRS actually requires to claim it.

2026 IRS Standard Mileage Rates — Official Figures

Purpose	2026 rate	Change from 2025
Business use	72.5¢ per mile	+2.5¢
Medical purposes	20.5¢ per mile	−0.5¢
Charitable service	14¢ per mile	No change
Moving (active-duty military)	20.5¢ per mile	−0.5¢

These rates apply to all vehicle types: gas, diesel, hybrid, and fully electric. The business rate is set annually by the IRS based on a study of the fixed and variable costs of operating a vehicle nationwide. The charitable rate is set by Congress and rarely changes.

Source: IRS IR-2025-128 — announced December 29, 2025, effective January 1, 2026.

How to Calculate Your 2026 Mileage Deduction

The formula is straightforward:

Business miles driven × 0.725 = deduction amount

Examples:

Business miles in 2026	Deduction at 72.5¢/mile
5,000 miles	$3,625
8,000 miles	$5,800
10,000 miles	$7,250
12,000 miles	$8,700
15,000 miles	$10,875
20,000 miles	$14,500

Your actual tax savings depend on your tax bracket. A self-employed person in the 22% federal bracket with $10,875 in mileage deductions saves roughly $2,392 in federal income tax. Add self-employment tax (which is calculated on net income) and the real benefit is higher.

Who Can Use the Standard Mileage Rate in 2026

Self-employed individuals and sole proprietors — deduct business miles on Schedule C. This is the most common use case. Freelancers, gig workers, real estate agents, consultants, tradespeople, and anyone who drives for their own business qualifies.

S-corp and partnership owners — can deduct mileage through business expense reimbursement to themselves, using an accountable plan.

Armed Forces reservists — can deduct mileage for travel to reserve meetings more than 100 miles from home on Schedule 1.

Qualified performing artists and fee-basis government officials — specific groups still eligible for mileage deductions as adjusted gross income deductions.

W-2 employees — generally cannot deduct unreimbursed mileage on their federal return. This rule became permanent under the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act passed in 2025. If your employer does not reimburse you for business miles, the deduction is not available to you at the federal level.

What Counts as a Business Mile

Business miles are miles driven for an ordinary and necessary business purpose. They are not miles driven between your home and your regular place of work — that is commuting, which is always personal.

Qualifying business miles include:

Driving to meet a client or customer
Driving between two job sites or business locations
Driving to a bank, post office, or office supply store for business purposes
Driving to a temporary work location
Driving for real estate showings, home inspections, or property visits
Driving to continuing education required for your profession
Driving for deliveries you are paid to complete (DoorDash, Amazon Flex, etc.)
Driving while providing rideshare services (Uber, Lyft)
Driving to pick up supplies or equipment for a job

Non-qualifying miles:

Your regular commute from home to your main office or place of business
Personal errands, regardless of whether you also do something business-related during the same trip
Driving to a job interview (unless self-employed and interviewing potential subcontractors)
Medical appointment driving (use the medical rate of 20.5¢ instead)

Standard Mileage Rate vs. Actual Expenses Method

The standard mileage rate is not the only way to deduct vehicle costs. The actual expenses method lets you deduct the real costs of operating your vehicle: gas, insurance, registration, repairs, depreciation, and lease payments — multiplied by the percentage of miles driven for business.

Standard mileage rate — use it when:

You do not want to track individual vehicle expenses
Your vehicle has relatively low actual operating costs
You want simplicity at tax time
You are using a leased vehicle (you can use standard mileage on leases, but must do so from the start of the lease)

Actual expenses — use it when:

You drive a high-cost vehicle with significant depreciation
You drive a large percentage of your total miles for business (the higher the business-use percentage, the more the actual method may benefit you)
You want to maximize depreciation deductions in early ownership years

The key restriction: If you use the actual expenses method in the first year you put a car in service for business, you cannot switch to the standard mileage method for that vehicle in later years. The election runs with the car. If you start with standard mileage, you can switch to actual later. Choose carefully in year one.

Historical IRS Business Mileage Rates: 2020–2026

Year	Business rate	Medical rate	Charitable rate
2026	72.5¢	20.5¢	14¢
2025	70.0¢	21.0¢	14¢
2024	67.0¢	21.0¢	14¢
2023	65.5¢	22.0¢	14¢
2022 (Jul–Dec)	62.5¢	22.0¢	14¢
2022 (Jan–Jun)	58.5¢	18.0¢	14¢
2021	56.0¢	16.0¢	14¢
2020	57.5¢	17.0¢	14¢

The business rate has increased by 16.5 cents per mile since 2021 — a 29% increase in the value of each mile you track. Every 10,000 miles you logged in 2021 was worth $5,600. The same 10,000 miles in 2026 is worth $7,250.

The 2022 mid-year adjustment was unusual. The IRS typically sets rates once in December for the following year. The extraordinary increase in gas prices above $5 per gallon in mid-2022 prompted a rare mid-year correction.

What the IRS Requires to Claim the Mileage Deduction

Tracking miles is not enough. The IRS requires a mileage log that documents five specific items for every business trip:

Date of the trip
Starting location (city or address is sufficient; your home or office counts)
Destination (where you drove to)
Business purpose of the trip (be specific: “client meeting at 123 Main St” is better than “business”)
Miles driven for that trip

You must also record your total odometer reading at the start and end of each tax year.

The IRS requires that records be made “at or near the time” of the trip — not reconstructed months later from memory. Retroactively created logs are one of the most common reasons mileage deductions get challenged during an audit.

An automatic mileage tracking app like Mileafy records the date, start point, end point, and miles automatically for every trip. You add the business purpose in the log after the drive. The resulting report exports as a PDF that meets IRS standards for all five required fields.

For full IRS mileage log requirements, see: IRS Mileage Log Requirements 2026: What Your Records Must Include

How to Claim the Mileage Deduction at Tax Time

Self-employed (Schedule C):

Report business miles on Part II, Line 9 of Schedule C
You must also complete either Part IV (information about your vehicle) or Form 4562 if you are also claiming depreciation on other assets
Keep your mileage log for at least three years from the date you file the return

S-corp owners reimbursed through an accountable plan:

The corporation reimburses you per mile at the standard rate
The reimbursement is deductible for the corporation and not taxable income to you
You must submit receipts or a mileage log to the corporation for the reimbursement to qualify as an accountable plan arrangement

Multiple vehicles:

Track each vehicle separately — the IRS requires vehicle-by-vehicle records
A mileage tracking app that supports multiple vehicles (like Mileafy) generates separate reports per vehicle

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the IRS mileage rate for 2026? 72.5 cents per mile for business use. This is the official rate set by the IRS in Notice IR-2025-128, effective January 1, 2026.

Did the IRS mileage rate go up in 2026? Yes. The business mileage rate increased by 2.5 cents, from 70 cents in 2025 to 72.5 cents in 2026. The medical rate decreased by half a cent to 20.5 cents. The charitable rate held at 14 cents.

What is the IRS mileage rate for self-employed in 2026? Self-employed individuals use the business rate: 72.5 cents per mile. This is the same rate used for all business mileage deductions regardless of employment type.

Can I use the standard mileage rate if I lease my car? Yes, but you must elect the standard mileage rate starting with the first year you use the leased vehicle for business. Once you use actual expenses for a leased vehicle, you cannot switch back to the standard mileage method.

What is the difference between the standard mileage rate and actual expenses? The standard mileage rate is a flat per-mile deduction that covers all vehicle costs (fuel, maintenance, insurance, depreciation) in a single number. The actual expenses method lets you deduct real costs based on your business-use percentage. Standard mileage is simpler and often advantageous for lower-cost vehicles. Actual expenses may produce a larger deduction for high-value vehicles with significant depreciation.

What is the 2026 mileage rate for medical purposes? 20.5 cents per mile — down half a cent from 21 cents in 2025. This rate applies to driving for medical care such as trips to doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies. Only the portion of medical expenses exceeding 7.5% of your adjusted gross income is deductible.

What is the charitable mileage rate for 2026? 14 cents per mile. This rate is set by statute and has not changed in years. It applies to driving done in service of a qualifying charitable organization.

Can employees deduct mileage on their federal tax return? Generally no. Under current law (made permanent in 2025), W-2 employees cannot claim unreimbursed business mileage as a federal deduction. Exceptions exist for Armed Forces reservists, qualified performing artists, and fee-basis government officials.

Is there an app that automatically tracks mileage for IRS purposes? Yes. Mileafy automatically logs every drive using background GPS and motion detection, and exports IRS-compliant PDF and CSV reports containing all five required fields. The first 1,000 miles are free.

Track your 2026 mileage automatically with Mileafy — Download on the App Store

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