Mileage and taxes. How to track mileage for taxes and work

This page is general information, not tax advice.

Mileage and taxes come down to one record. If you drive for work and want the deduction, or your employer reimburses you, you need a log that shows when you drove, where, why, and how far. This page is the method for keeping that log, in order, followed by where the numbers go on your return and how long to keep them. The rules behind each step are in Publication 463 and on Topic 510.

1. Record the odometer on January 1

Write down the odometer reading of every car you use for business at the start of the year and again at the end. The difference is the total miles for the year, which Publication 463 Table 5-1 requires, and which you need to find the business-use percentage. If you buy or sell a car during the year, record the odometer that day too.

2. Note the date each car was placed in service

Schedule C Part IV asks for the date you placed the car in service for business. It is the date the car was ready and available for business use, which for a car you already owned is the date you started using it for business.

3. Decide the method in the first year

If the car is new to business use this year, decide between the standard mileage rate and actual expenses now, because the choice in the first year controls what you can do later. See standard mileage rate vs. actual expenses. Either way, keep the log. Both methods depend on it.

4. Record every business trip

For each trip, record the date, where you went, why it was business, and the miles. These are the elements in Table 5-1. Odometer readings per trip are not required if you have the miles, but they are the easiest way to prove them.

Record trips at or near the time you take them. A log you fill in once a week from your calendar and receipts counts as timely. A log you rebuild in March from memory does not, though it can still be used with other evidence. The elements, the commuting rules, and the rules for missed trips are on mileage log requirements.

Personal trips do not need entries. The total miles for the year covers them. Commuting between home and your regular workplace is personal.

5. Keep parking and toll receipts

Parking fees and tolls for business trips are deductible whichever method you use, on top of the standard rate. Parking at your regular workplace is a commuting expense and is not. Keep the receipts with the log.

If you use actual expenses, also keep receipts for gas, oil, repairs, tires, insurance, registration, and lease payments, and the purchase documents for the car.

6. Classify weekly

Set a weekly time to go through the week's trips and mark each as business or personal, with a purpose for the business ones. Weekly is the interval Publication 463 names as timely. It also keeps the job small enough to do.

7. Total the year

At year end, add the business miles, the commuting miles, and the other personal miles. The three should add up to the difference between the two odometer readings. The business miles divided by the total is the business-use percentage. Multiply the business miles by the rate for each period. For 2025 the rate is 70 cents a mile. For 2026 it is 72.5 cents through June 30 and 76 cents from July 1. See IRS standard mileage rate.

Where the numbers go on your return

If you are self-employed, car expenses go on Schedule C (Form 1040). The form and its instructions are at About Schedule C.

Line 9 is "Car and truck expenses". Under the standard mileage rate it is the business miles times the rate for each period, plus business parking and tolls. Under actual expenses it is the total car expenses times the business-use percentage, plus business parking and tolls in full, with depreciation on line 13 from Form 4562.

Part IV, lines 43 to 47, asks about the vehicle when you claim line 9 and do not file Form 4562.

The three figures on line 44 add up to the total miles from your odometer readings. If you depreciate the car, claim a section 179 deduction, or claim the special depreciation allowance, you file Form 4562 and answer the vehicle questions in its Part V instead. Farmers report on Schedule F line 10 and attach Form 4562. The business share of car loan interest goes on Schedule C line 16b and the business share of personal property tax on the car on line 23.

Employees generally cannot deduct car expenses. Armed Forces reservists, qualified performing artists, fee-basis state or local government officials, and employees with impairment-related work expenses still can, on Form 2106. For everyone else the route is employer reimbursement, covered on mileage reimbursement.

How long to keep the records

Keep the log and the receipts for three years from the date you file the return that claims the deduction. A return filed early counts as filed on the due date, so a 2025 log claimed in March 2026 is kept until April 2029 at the earliest. The general periods are in Publication 583.

Keep them longer for a car you depreciate. The business-use test must be met in every year of the car's recovery period, six calendar years under MACRS, so each year's log supports the later years. The standard mileage rate includes depreciation too, and the logs from every year you used the rate support the basis when you sell the car. Export each year's log to a format that opens without an app, such as a PDF and a CSV, and keep it with the return.

How Miles handles this

Miles does steps 4 through 7 for you and reminds you about the rest. Drives are detected and recorded automatically with the date, the addresses, the distance, and the route. A weekly reminder covers classification, and rules built on your places classify most drives before you see them. Odometer reminders at the start and end of the year, and when you add or remove a vehicle, capture the total miles. Parking and tolls attach to the trip. The tax summary PDF has the year totals, the line 9 amount, and the Part IV answers for each vehicle, and the log PDF is the record behind them. Every year's log stays in your iCloud, and the year-end export produces a PDF, a CSV, and a JSON backup that open without the app.

Miles is coming soon. Until then, the mileage tracker spreadsheet covers the same steps by hand.

For Canada, the method is the same and the forms are different. See CRA logbook requirements.