Tax Year & Filing Info
Miles by Purpose
How to Use This Calculator
- Choose your method — Standard Mileage Rate for a simple cents-per-mile calculation, or Actual Expense Method if you track your real vehicle costs throughout the year.
- For the Standard Mileage method, select the tax year and your marginal tax rate, then enter your miles by purpose: business, medical/moving, or charitable.
- Optionally enter the number of trips for each category to see a per-trip mileage breakdown — useful for auditing your mileage log.
- For the Actual Expense method, enter your total miles driven, business miles driven, and each annual vehicle expense. The calculator will pro-rate each cost by your business use percentage and compare the result to the standard mileage rate.
- Click Calculate to see your total deduction, estimated tax savings, and — in Actual Expense mode — a side-by-side comparison of which method saves you more.
How the Business Mileage Deduction Works
The Two IRS Methods
The IRS allows two methods for deducting vehicle expenses for business use. The standard mileage rate is the simpler option: multiply your business miles by the IRS-published rate for that year, and the result is your deduction. No tracking of individual expenses required. The actual expense method requires you to track every dollar spent on the vehicle — gas, insurance, repairs, depreciation, registration, and lease payments — then multiply the total by your business use percentage. Each method has advantages depending on your vehicle costs, how much you drive for business, and how disciplined your recordkeeping is.
2026 IRS Mileage Rates
For 2026, the IRS standard mileage rate for business driving is 70 cents per mile. Medical and qualifying moving mileage is deductible at 21 cents per mile. Charitable mileage is fixed by statute at 14 cents per mile — this rate is set by Congress and doesn’t change annually the way business and medical rates do. Using the standard rate means you don’t need to track individual vehicle expenses for that vehicle, but you must still maintain a contemporaneous mileage log documenting each trip’s date, destination, business purpose, and miles driven.
Standard Mileage vs. Actual Expense: Which Wins?
The better method depends entirely on your specific vehicle and driving pattern. The standard mileage rate tends to favor high-mileage drivers with fuel-efficient vehicles, because the flat per-mile rate is calculated to represent average vehicle costs — if your actual costs per mile are below the IRS rate, the standard method gives you more than you actually spent. The actual expense method tends to favor drivers with expensive vehicles (high insurance, significant depreciation), low annual mileage, or unusually high maintenance costs. Running both calculations — as this calculator does — is the only reliable way to know which saves you more for a given year.
What Counts as a Deductible Business Mile
Business miles include driving between your office or home office and client locations, travel between business locations, driving to meet clients or vendors, business-related errands, and travel to temporary work locations. Commuting — driving from your home to a regular, fixed workplace — is never deductible, even if you own your own business. However, if you have a qualifying home office, trips from your home to client meetings or other business locations are deductible because your home is your primary place of business. This distinction is one of the most frequently audited mileage issues the IRS encounters.
The Mileage Log Requirement
The IRS requires contemporaneous records for mileage deductions — meaning you document each trip at or near the time it occurs, not reconstructed months later at tax time. A compliant mileage log must record the date of each trip, the starting and ending location, the business purpose, and the total miles driven. Odometer readings at the start and end of the year are also recommended. Acceptable formats include a written log, a spreadsheet, or a mileage tracking app — several of which automatically log trips via GPS. Without a mileage log, the IRS can disallow the deduction entirely on audit.
Parking, Tolls, and Other Direct Business Expenses
Parking fees and tolls incurred for business purposes are deductible in addition to either mileage method — they aren’t included in the standard rate or subject to the business use percentage in the actual expense method. Keep receipts for these separately. Note that parking tickets are never deductible. Interest on a car loan used for business is also partially deductible under the actual expense method, pro-rated by business use percentage.
2026 IRS Mileage Rate Reference
| Purpose | 2026 Rate | 2025 Rate | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business | 70¢/mile | 67¢/mile | Deductible on Schedule C, Form 2106 |
| Medical | 21¢/mile | 21¢/mile | Only if itemizing; subject to 7.5% AGI floor |
| Charitable | 14¢/mile | 14¢/mile | Fixed by statute; requires charitable organization |
| Moving | 21¢/mile | 21¢/mile | Active-duty military only since 2018 TCJA |
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I switch between the standard rate and actual expense method each year?
Partially. If you use the standard mileage rate in the first year a vehicle is placed in service, you can switch to the actual expense method in a later year — but with restrictions on depreciation. However, if you choose the actual expense method in the first year, you generally cannot switch to the standard mileage rate for that vehicle in subsequent years. This is one of the most important reasons to calculate both methods before committing to one in year one.
Does the standard mileage rate apply to leased vehicles?
Yes, but with a catch: if you choose the standard mileage rate for a leased vehicle, you must use it for the entire lease period — you can’t switch to actual expenses mid-lease. The actual expense method for leased vehicles includes the lease payment pro-rated by business use, but also requires an “inclusion amount” adjustment from IRS tables that reduces the deduction for higher-value leased vehicles. The standard rate is often simpler and competitive for leased vehicles with typical costs.
What if I use multiple vehicles for business?
You can apply the mileage deduction separately to each vehicle. You can even use different methods for different vehicles — standard rate on one, actual expenses on another — as long as you make the method election correctly in the first year each vehicle is placed in service. Keep separate mileage logs for each vehicle. If employees use company vehicles, different rules apply under the employer-provided vehicle regulations.
Can I deduct mileage for a vehicle I don’t own?
Yes. You can use the standard mileage rate for a vehicle you lease, borrow, or use under a personal vehicle arrangement. The key is that the business use must be genuine and documented. If you borrow a family member’s vehicle for a business trip, you can deduct the mileage. If an employee uses their personal vehicle for business and the employer doesn’t reimburse them, the employee can potentially deduct the business miles — though the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended this deduction for W-2 employees through 2025; self-employed individuals are not affected by this restriction.
How does the home office affect mileage deductibility?
Having a qualifying home office transforms your commuting calculation. When your home contains your principal place of business, driving from home to any other business location — a client site, a supply store, a co-working space — is a deductible business trip rather than non-deductible commuting. This can dramatically increase your deductible mileage if you regularly meet clients or run business errands. The home office must meet IRS requirements: regular and exclusive use for business, and it must be your principal place of business or a place where you regularly meet clients.
Is there a maximum mileage I can deduct?
There is no mileage cap on the standard rate deduction itself, but the IRS will scrutinize returns claiming very high mileage. There are only about 6,000 hours in a year — claiming 100,000 business miles implies averaging more than 16 miles per hour for every hour of the year, which raises audit flags. Accuracy and documentation matter more than any arbitrary limit. Claims that seem implausible relative to the nature of your business are far more likely to trigger IRS attention than high mileage that’s well-documented and consistent with your business activity.
Tips for Maximizing Your Mileage Deduction
- Use a mileage tracking app automatically. Apps like MileIQ, Everlance, or Stride track trips via GPS and let you swipe to categorize them as business or personal. This creates a compliant, contemporaneous log with no extra effort — and catches trips you’d otherwise forget to record.
- Log your odometer reading on January 1st and December 31st. This creates a baseline that supports your annual mileage claim and helps separate personal from business miles in any review.
- Don’t forget incidental business trips. Driving to the bank to deposit business checks, picking up office supplies, or driving to a networking event all qualify. Small trips add up over a year and are often the ones people forget to track.
- Recalculate both methods every year. Vehicle costs and IRS rates change. The better method this year may not be the better method next year — especially as a vehicle ages and repair costs increase. Run the comparison annually before filing.
- Keep fuel receipts even if using the standard rate. If you’re ever audited and need to demonstrate that your claimed mileage is plausible, fuel purchase records corroborate the volume of driving you’re claiming.