Mileage Deduction Calculator 2026 (Split-Year IRS Rates)

The 2026 IRS Mileage Rates, in One Table

Use	1 Jan to 30 Jun 2026	1 Jul to 31 Dec 2026	Where it is claimed
Business, self-employed	72.5 cents	76 cents	Schedule C, reduces income tax and self-employment tax
Business, reimbursed by an employer	72.5 cents	76 cents	Tax-free up to the rate, under an accountable plan
Medical	20.5 cents	23.5 cents	Schedule A, only the part above 7.5% of AGI
Moving household goods	20.5 cents	23.5 cents	Armed Forces moves only under current law
Charitable	14 cents	14 cents	Schedule A if you itemize
2025 for comparison	70 cents all year		One rate, which is why old pages are wrong about 2026

The July increase is not a rumor or an analyst guess: the IRS published it in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2026-29. A calculator that multiplies your whole year by one number is either 4.8 cents a mile low or 4.8 cents high, and on 6,000 miles that is a $145 error in either direction.

Who Actually Gets to Deduct It

Self-employed, 1099, gig and contract work

All of it, on Schedule C, and it works twice: the deduction shrinks the profit that both income tax and self-employment tax run on. Publication 334 is the source for that second part, because net earnings from self-employment are 92.35 percent of profit.

W-2 employee with unreimbursed miles

Nothing, and this is where most of the internet is wrong. Publication 463 says the cost of using your car as an employee, “whether measured using actual expenses or the standard mileage rate, will no longer be allowed to be claimed as an unreimbursed employee travel expense as a miscellaneous itemized deduction.” The suspension started with tax years after 2017 and the 2025 tax law made it permanent, so there is no 2027 sunset to wait for. A handful of states still allow their own deduction on a state return.

W-2 employee whose employer reimburses

Reimbursement up to the federal rate is tax-free under an accountable plan, and it is the only route that puts mileage money back in an employee’s pocket. If your employer still pays the 2025 rate of 70 cents, you are being paid $4,200 on 6,000 miles when the federal figure is $4,455. Ask for the difference in writing. You cannot claim it yourself.

Worked Example: 6,000 Business Miles in 2026

A courier drives 3,000 business miles in the first half of 2026 and 3,000 in the second.

• First half: 3,000 miles at 72.5 cents = $2,175
• Second half: 3,000 miles at 76 cents = $2,280
• Deduction: $4,455, and a single-rate calculator using 76 cents would have printed $4,560, $105 too high
• Federal income tax at a 22 percent bracket: $980 not paid
• Self-employment tax, 14.13 percent of the same deduction: $629 not paid
• All-in value: $1,610

Run the same 6,000 miles as a W-2 employee with no reimbursement and the value is $0, which is why the two-earner question at the top of this page matters more than the rate itself.

The Rules That Decide Whether Your Miles Count

1. Commuting is never deductible. Driving from home to a regular place of work is personal, no matter the distance or the hours. Publication 463 lists the narrow exceptions: a temporary work location, a job with no regular place of work, and trips between two places of work in the same day.
2. Keep a log. The deduction needs miles, dates, destination and purpose. A round number you remember at tax time is not a record.
3. Pick your method in the first year the car is used for work. Publication 463: if you want the standard rate on a car you own, you must choose it in the first year it is available for business. Later years you can switch between the standard rate and actual expenses. If you choose actual expenses first, you cannot go back to the standard rate for that car. A leased car must use the standard rate for the entire lease.
4. You cannot stack a deduction on top of a tax-free reimbursement. The reimbursement is the payment. Deducting the same miles again is the error that turns an accountable plan into an audit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the IRS rate the same as what my car costs?

No. The rate is a proxy that averages gas, wear, insurance and depreciation into one number for tax purposes. On fuel-heavy years it under-recovers, and it never covers your time. Use it for the deduction, and use your own log to argue for a higher reimbursement.

What if I drive a truck or a van?

The business standard rate applies to a car, van, pickup or panel truck, which is the wording Publication 334 uses for the 2026 rate.

Do miles to a second job count?

Travel between two workplaces in the same day is generally business travel. The trip from home to the first one is commuting.

Can I claim 2025 miles on the 2026 return?

You claim them on the return for the year they happened, at that year’s rate of 70 cents. Mixing the two is the most common error in an amended mileage claim.

Does parking count?

Parking fees at a business location are a separate deduction, and the standard rate does not include them. Parking on your commute does not count.

Sources

• IRS Topic No. 506, Standard Mileage Rate: The 2026 rates by use, including the split between the two halves of the year.
• Internal Revenue Bulletin 2026-29, Announcement 2026-11: The notice that raised the 2026 business rate to 76 cents from 1 July.
• IRS Publication 463, Travel, Gift and Car Expenses: The commuting rule and its exceptions, the first-year method choice, and the sentence that ends the unreimbursed employee deduction.
• IRS Publication 502, Medical Expenses: That medical mileage lands on Schedule A and only the part above 7.5% of adjusted gross income reduces tax.
• IRS Publication 334, Tax Guide for Small Business: The 2026 business rate of 72.5 cents as published, and the 92.35% link between a Schedule C deduction and self-employment tax.

Next step: Copy last year’s log forward before the trip, not after. The free budget spreadsheet keeps a miles column beside the reimbursement line, which is the pairing the IRS wants to see.