The IRS mileage rate is a fixed cents-per-mile figure the Internal Revenue Service publishes each year that lets eligible taxpayers deduct the cost of driving a personal vehicle without adding up gas, insurance, repairs, and depreciation one receipt at a time. For 2026, the business rate is 72.5 cents per mile. Medical trips and active-duty military moves are deductible at 20.5 cents per mile, and driving for a qualified charity is deductible at 14 cents per mile.1IRS.gov. 2026 Standard Mileage Rates
The 2026 Rates and What Each One Covers
Four categories, four rates. They differ because the tax code treats each type of driving differently and because some rates cover only variable costs like fuel while the business rate also covers fixed costs like insurance and depreciation.1IRS.gov. 2026 Standard Mileage Rates
- Business — 72.5¢ per mile. The highest rate because it bundles fixed costs (insurance, registration, depreciation) with variable costs (gas, oil, maintenance). Of that 72.5 cents, 35 cents is treated as depreciation.
- Medical — 20.5¢ per mile. For trips essential to medical care under 26 U.S.C. § 213. Only variable costs. Medical expenses still have to clear the 7.5%-of-AGI floor before any of it is deductible.
- Military moving — 20.5¢ per mile. Only for active-duty service members relocating under a permanent change-of-station order, plus certain intelligence community members.
- Charitable — 14¢ per mile. Set by statute at 26 U.S.C. § 170, not by the IRS, so it does not adjust for inflation.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 170 – Charitable, Etc., Contributions and Gifts
Who Can Actually Claim a Mileage Deduction
Self-Employed
If you’re self-employed, you report business mileage on Schedule C and can use either the standard rate or the actual expense method. You have to choose the standard rate in the first year the vehicle enters business service. Miss that first year and the car is locked into actual expenses for the rest of its business life.3Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 510, Business Use of Car
A few situations disqualify you from the standard rate entirely: operating five or more vehicles at the same time, having previously claimed accelerated depreciation or a Section 179 deduction on the car, or having claimed actual expenses on a leased vehicle after 1997. The standard rate already contains its own depreciation component, so stacking it on top of accelerated depreciation would double-count.3Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 510, Business Use of Car
W-2 Employees
Regular employees cannot deduct unreimbursed business mileage on their federal return. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended the deduction starting in 2018, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed in 2025 made that suspension permanent. Even if your employer never reimburses a mile, there is no federal write-off. Some states still allow a deduction on the state return, so check your state’s rules.
Military and Charitable Drivers
Active-duty service members relocating under orders can deduct the move at 20.5 cents per mile under 26 U.S.C. § 217(g). They are the only group still eligible for the moving expense deduction; the suspension for everyone else is now permanent.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 217 – Moving Expenses Anyone driving for a qualified charity claims 14 cents per mile as a charitable contribution.
What the Rate Already Includes
Choosing the standard rate means you accept a single per-mile figure in place of every operating cost. It covers gas, oil, tires, routine maintenance, repairs, insurance, registration fees, and depreciation. None of those are separately deductible on top.5Internal Revenue Service. IRS Sets 2026 Business Standard Mileage Rate at 72.5 Cents Per Mile, Up 2.5 Cents
Two things are not baked in and can be added: business-related parking fees and tolls. Parking at your regular workplace is commuting, though, and never deductible. Car-loan interest is deductible only under the actual expense method, not with the standard rate.6Internal Revenue Service. Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses
Commuting Does Not Count
The most common mistake with mileage deductions is counting the daily commute. Driving between home and your regular workplace is personal, regardless of the distance or whether you take work calls along the way.6Internal Revenue Service. Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses
Deductible business driving starts when you travel from your regular workplace to another business location, like a client’s office or a second job site. Trips to a temporary work location outside your metropolitan area also qualify if the assignment is realistically expected to last one year or less. If you work from a qualifying home office, driving from home to any business destination counts as business mileage rather than commuting.6Internal Revenue Service. Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses
Standard Rate or Actual Expenses
You always have the alternative of tracking every real cost and deducting the business-use percentage. Actual expenses tend to produce a bigger deduction on an expensive vehicle with high insurance and repair bills. The standard rate often wins for newer, fuel-efficient cars driven a lot of miles.
Two rules shape the choice. First, if you want the standard rate, elect it in year one, as noted above. Second, if you start with the standard rate and later switch to actual expenses, you have to use straight-line depreciation for the rest of the car’s useful life. For a leased vehicle the choice is all-or-nothing: whichever method you pick at the start of the lease applies for the whole lease, renewals included.3Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 510, Business Use of Car
Under either method, business parking fees and tolls are deductible on top.3Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 510, Business Use of Car
Records the IRS Expects
Under 26 U.S.C. § 274(d), no deduction is allowed for travel expenses unless you can show the amount, time, place, and business purpose of each trip through adequate records or corroborating evidence.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 274 – Disallowance of Certain Entertainment, Etc., Expenses In practice that means a mileage log kept at or near the time of the trip, with:
- The date of the trip.
- Where you drove.
- The business purpose (client meeting, supply run, job site).
- Miles driven, from odometer readings or a reliable mapping tool.
- Total annual miles, business and personal, so the business-use percentage is documented.
Paper, spreadsheet, or app all work. The IRS cares that records are contemporaneous and complete, not what format you use.6Internal Revenue Service. Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses Trying to reconstruct a full year from memory during an audit rarely holds up.
Doing the Math
The calculation is straightforward. Multiply qualifying miles by the rate for the category and the year. Drive 12,000 business miles in 2026, and the deduction is 12,000 × $0.725 = $8,700. Log 500 charitable volunteer miles, and it’s 500 × $0.14 = $70.1IRS.gov. 2026 Standard Mileage Rates
One catch that surfaces later: 35 cents of the 2026 business rate is depreciation. When you sell or trade in the vehicle, the tax basis has to be reduced by all the depreciation embedded in the standard rate over the years you claimed it. Skip that adjustment and the taxable gain at disposal will be larger than you expected.