The 2026 Mileage Deduction: Rates, Rules, and Tracking
10,000 business miles is a $7,425 deduction in 2026 — worth about $1,940 in tax to a driver with $40,000 of Schedule C profit, because mileage cuts self-employment tax and income tax at the same time. The calculator below is already set to that scenario. Change the miles to yours.
2026 IRS standard mileage rate — there are two
72.5¢
per mile, 1 Jan – 30 Jun 2026
76¢
per mile, 1 Jul – 31 Dec 2026
The IRS revised the rate mid-year for rising fuel costs, so a full-year log has to be split at 30 June and each half deducted at its own rate. Confirm the current figure at irs.gov standard mileage rates before you file.
Deduction
$7,425
10,000 miles, split at 30 Jun
Income tax saved
$891
at the 12% marginal rate
SE tax saved
$1,049
15.3% on 92.35% of it
Total tax saved
$1,940
19.4¢ per mile logged
Your Business Miles
Deducted at 72.5¢ per mile.
Deducted at 76¢ per mile.
Business miles only — commuting to a regular workplace never counts. The 30 June line is where the IRS rate changed, so a full-year log has to be split there.
Your Income (for the tax savings estimate)
Before the mileage deduction.
Leave at $0 if driving is your only income.
Mileage Deduction
$7,425
10,000business miles — worth about $1,940 in tax at your 12% bracket plus SE tax
How the Deduction Adds Up
5,000 × 72.5¢
5,000 × 76¢
A blended 74.3¢ per mile across the year. Parking, tolls, and the business share of car loan interest are deductible on top of this.
What That Deduction Saves
At your 12% marginal rate
15.3% on 92.35% of the profit it erases
Every business mile you log is worth about 19.4¢of tax you don't pay — roughly $19 per 100 miles driven.
2026 standard mileage rates: 72.5¢ per mile through 30 June and 76¢from 1 July. Estimates federal tax only, and ignores state tax and the QBI deduction — both of which make the real saving a little larger.
What that result means
The deduction itself is arithmetic: 5,000 miles at 72.5¢ is $3,625, 5,000 miles at 76¢ is $3,800, and the two together are $7,425 on line 9 of Schedule C. Drive the same 10,000 miles entirely after 1 July and it would be $7,600; entirely before 30 June, $7,250. That $350 spread is the whole reason the log has to be split rather than totalled.
What the deduction is worth is the part most people get wrong. It is not $7,425 off your tax bill — it is $7,425 off the profit your tax is charged on. At $40,000 of Schedule C profit filing single, that removes about $891 of income tax at the 12% marginal rate and about $1,049 of self-employment tax, for roughly $1,940 in all.
Per mile, that is 19.4¢of tax you don't pay — about $19 for every 100 miles. It is also why mileage beats almost every other write-off a driver has: most deductions save income tax only, but a Schedule C expense shrinks the base for the 15.3% self-employment tax too, so it works twice. Run it alongside your other write-offs in the deduction estimator.
Federal tax only, no state tax and no QBI deduction — both make the real saving slightly larger. Parking and tolls are deductible on top of the mileage figure, not included in it.
Standard Mileage vs Actual Expense
The IRS lets you deduct business vehicle costs one of two ways, and you pick per vehicle. The table prices both for this page's driver: 10,000 business miles out of 25,000 total (40% business use), with $4,500 of actual annual vehicle costs — gas, insurance, maintenance, and depreciation combined.
| Standard mileage | Actual expense | |
|---|---|---|
| Deduction in this scenario | $7,425 | $1,800 |
| What you multiply | Business miles × the IRS rate for the half of the year they fall in | Everything the car cost you for the year × your business-use percentage |
| Records you have to keep | A mileage log — date, miles, destination, purpose | The same mileage log, plus every fuel, repair, and insurance receipt |
| What the number already covers | Fuel, oil, maintenance, tires, insurance, and depreciation | The same costs, at what you actually paid for them |
| Deductible on top either way | Parking, tolls, business share of car loan interest | Parking, tolls, business share of car loan interest |
| Depreciation | Baked into the rate — you can't claim it separately | Claimed separately, subject to the Section 280F caps on cars |
| Switching in a later year | Free to switch to actual next year | Actual plus MACRS in year one locks that car in for its business life |
| Usually wins for | High miles in an inexpensive car — rideshare, delivery, sales routes | An expensive vehicle, low mileage, or very high business use |
The standard method deducts 4.1× as much here, and for a high-mileage driver in an inexpensive car that is the ordinary result — the IRS rate is built around the cost of an average vehicle, so a cheap one earns more per mile than it costs to run. It is why delivery and rideshare drivers almost always take standard mileage. Actual expenses win the other way round: an expensive vehicle, driven relatively few miles, used mostly for business.
The locked-in rule decides year one for you.If you want the standard mileage method on a vehicle, you have to use it the first year that vehicle goes into business service. After year one you can switch between methods annually — but claim actual expenses with MACRS depreciation in year one and you are on actual for that vehicle's entire business life. When in doubt in the first year, take standard: it keeps both doors open.
What Qualifies (and What Doesn't)
✓ Deductible business miles
- Trips to meet clients or customers
- Travel between two work locations
- Delivery and rideshare trips with passengers/cargo
- Picking up supplies, going to the bank for business, post office runs
- From a qualified home office to any client or job site
- Travel to industry conferences or business meetings
✗ NOT deductible
- Commuting from home to your regular workplace (any distance, any frequency)
- Personal errands even if attached to a business trip
- Detour to drop kids off or grab lunch (subtract those miles)
- "Deadhead" miles between gigs are deductible for rideshare/delivery — but trips home are commuting
- Traffic violations and parking tickets
Tracking Requirements
The IRS requires a contemporaneous log. For each business trip that means:
- Date of the trip
- Starting and ending mileage (or total miles)
- Destination
- Business purpose
Reconstructing a log from calendar entries at tax time generally does not satisfy the requirement and is regularly thrown out in audits. The most defensible setup is an app that detects drives automatically and lets you swipe each one as business or personal. Common options (no affiliate links):
- MileIQ — automatic detection, swipe to classify, paid subscription
- Stride — free, focused on gig workers
- Everlance — auto-detection plus expense tracking
A paper mileage logbook works just as well as long as you fill it out at the time of each trip. The key word in the IRS rule is "contemporaneous" — not the format. One 2026 wrinkle to build into whatever you use: your log needs a total for miles driven to 30 June and a separate total from 1 July, or you will be estimating the split at filing time.
Where mileage lands on your return
Mileage goes on line 9 of Schedule C, so it reduces net profit before either tax is calculated — the reason a mile is worth 19.4¢ rather than just your income-tax rate. Three scenarios where that matters most:
DoorDash & Uber Eats Taxes
Deadhead miles, the 1099-NEC, and why mileage is usually the biggest line on a delivery driver's Schedule C
Gig Worker Tax Guide
Everything else a driver deducts — phone, tolls, amenities — and the quarterly payments that follow
Deduction Estimator
Stack this $7,425 with home office, supplies, and the rest to size the whole saving
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the 2026 IRS standard mileage rate?
There are two for 2026, because the IRS revised the rate mid-year as fuel costs rose: 72.5¢ per mile for business miles driven 1 January to 30 June, and 76¢ per mile from 1 July. A return covering the whole year has to split its mileage log at 30 June and apply each rate to its own half. On 10,000 business miles split evenly that is $3,625 plus $3,800 — a $7,425 deduction, or a blended 74.3¢ a mile. Separate, lower rates apply to medical and moving (military) mileage.
How much is 10,000 miles worth on my taxes?
The deduction is $7,425 at the 2026 rates. What it saves depends on your bracket, because a deduction is worth your marginal rate rather than a fixed amount. For a driver with $40,000 of Schedule C profit filing single, it cuts income tax by about $891 and self-employment tax by about $1,049 — roughly $1,940 in all, or 19.4¢ of tax saved per mile logged. Mileage is unusual in cutting both taxes at once: it comes off Schedule C profit, which is the base for income tax and the 15.3% SE tax alike.
Can I switch between standard and actual mileage methods?
Yes, but with one critical rule: you must use the standard mileage rate in the first year you place the vehicle in service for business. After that, you can switch between methods year to year. If you start with actual (and especially MACRS depreciation), you're locked into actual for that vehicle's life.
Does commuting to my regular job count as business miles?
No. Commuting from home to your regular place of work is never deductible, even for self-employed people. The exception: travel from a qualified home office to a client or job site is deductible because the home office is your principal place of business — the trip is between business locations, not a commute.
What records does the IRS require for mileage?
A contemporaneous log: date, starting and ending odometer or total miles, destination, and business purpose. 'Contemporaneous' means written down at or near the time of the trip — not reconstructed at tax time from memory or calendar entries. Apps like MileIQ, Stride, and Everlance create this log automatically by detecting drives.
Can I deduct parking and tolls on top of mileage?
Yes. Business-related parking fees and tolls are deductible in addition to the standard mileage rate. The standard rate covers fuel, maintenance, depreciation, and insurance — it does not cover parking, tolls, or interest on a car loan (a portion of which is also separately deductible for self-employed drivers).
What if I use the same car for personal and business?
Track only the business miles and apply either method to those. Under the actual expense method, you also have to track total annual miles to calculate the business-use percentage (business miles ÷ total miles), then apply that percentage to actual costs (gas, repairs, insurance, depreciation).
Related Guides
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Uber & Lyft Driver Taxes
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