2026 IRS Mileage Rates at a Glance
The IRS sets the current mileage rates, and which 2026 mileage rate you use will depend on the reason you were driving:
The business standard mileage rate — often called the federal mileage rate 2026 — applies to self-employed individuals, business owners, and employees who drive a personal vehicle for work-related purposes. The IRS updates these rates periodically to reflect what it actually costs to operate a vehicle, though the charitable rate is set by Congress and typically changes less frequently. Rates can move, and IRS.gov is always the authoritative source.
If you’re self-employed or a 1099 contractor tracking your miles, FuelMath helps you keep money in your pocket at tax time.
If you’re an employee, FuelMath helps you track your miles for reimbursement from your employer.
What Does the Business Mileage Rate Cover?
When you use the standard mileage method, that 76 cents is an all-in number. It is built to cover:
- Fuel (gas, diesel, or electricity)
- Oil changes and routine maintenance
- Tires
- Insurance
- Registration and license fees
- Depreciation (the vehicle’s value as it wears out from business use)
That is why you cannot separately deduct fuel, insurance, or maintenance when you use the standard method. Those costs are already baked into the rate.
A few things you generally can deduct on top of the standard rate:
- Parking fees
- Tolls
- The business-use share of interest on an auto loan (this one gets complicated, so check with a tax professional about your situation)
How to Calculate Your Mileage Deduction
You can calculate your deduction using the following formula:
So if you drive 12,000 business miles in 2026 (after July 1st):
Instead of doing that math by hand all year long, you can let a tool like FuelMath keep the running tally for you, estimating your deduction at the current rate as you log each trip, and providing polished reports at year-end. Prefer to keep the record yourself? Start with our free IRS mileage log template.
If you are self-employed, that deduction lowers your business income, which trims both your income tax and your self-employment tax for Social Security and Medicare.
Who Uses Each Rate
Business Rate
Self-employed workers: This is the classic case. If you get a 1099 (the form that reports pay to independent contractors) or you run a business as a sole proprietor, LLC, or S-corp and you drive your personal vehicle for work, you generally deduct your business miles on Schedule C (the form sole proprietors use to report business income).
W-2 employees: A recent law, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, permanently ended the federal write-off most employees could once take for unreimbursed job expenses. For most W-2 workers (people who get a standard wage form from an employer), deducting mileage on your federal return is no longer an option. The path that remains is tracking your miles for employer reimbursement, and the IRS business rate is the yardstick most employers use. In practice, mileage reimbursement 2026 uses that same rate as its benchmark.
Medical and Moving Rate
Medical miles count when the trip is primarily for, and essential to, medical care: driving to a doctor, hospital, clinic, or pharmacy, for example. The moving rate applies only to active-duty military members relocating under orders (a permanent change of station). Civilian moving miles are not deductible under current law.
Charitable Rate
You can deduct miles driven in service of a qualified nonprofit, as long as you were not reimbursed for them.
Why the IRS Wants You to Log Trips As You Go
Whichever rate applies to you, the IRS expects a contemporaneous log. That is a formal word for a simple habit: you record each trip at or near the time you take it, not from memory in April. Here is how to log trips as you go and turn them into a deduction.
A complete entry includes:
- The date of the trip
- The destination
- The business purpose, stated specifically (“client meeting, Acme Corp Q3 review,” not just “work”)
- The miles driven
Logs that are clearly reconstructed at tax time carry real audit risk, and the IRS does disallow deductions when the records look after-the-fact. Logging as you go is not busywork. It is the standard, and it is what protects your deduction.
Standard Mileage vs. Actual Vehicle Expenses
You have two ways to deduct vehicle costs, and you get to pick the one that serves you better. Our side-by-side breakdown shows which method saves you more.
- Simple: miles driven × the rate = your deduction
- No separate tracking of fuel, repairs, or insurance
- Often the winner for high-mileage, fuel-efficient vehicles
- Add up all your vehicle operating costs, then multiply by the share of driving that was for business
- Track fuel, oil, tires, insurance, registration, repairs, and depreciation
- Often better for expensive-to-run vehicles or a big first-year vehicle purchase
- More recordkeeping
For a lot of self-employed workers, real estate agents, gig drivers, mobile notaries, and other service pros, standard mileage is both simpler and often the bigger deduction. A tax professional can confirm which side wins for you.
Log a Trip Once – It’s There When You Need It
With FuelMath you describe your trip to log it. FuelMath applies the IRS rate, calculates your deduction, and stores the trip in your dashboard. At tax time, with FuelMath Pro you can export a PDF or CSV, or email your summary straight to your tax professional.
If you drive for work and are self-employed or a 1099 contractor, learn how FuelMath helps you maximize your tax deduction.
If you’re an employee, learn how FuelMath can help you get your mileage reimbursed from your employer.