IRS standard mileage rate

This page is general information, not tax advice.

The standard mileage rate is the amount per mile the IRS lets you deduct for the business use of your car instead of tracking actual expenses. The IRS publishes the rate each December for the following year and changes it mid-year when fuel costs move enough.

The 2026 rates

The IRS set the 2026 business rate at 72.5 cents a mile in Notice 2026-10, up 2.5 cents from 2025. On July 13, 2026, it raised the business rate to 76 cents a mile for July 1 through December 31, 2026.

Note. Verify every figure on this page against the IRS standard mileage rates page before publish, and add the second-half medical rate if the IRS changed it.

A mid-year change means your 2026 deduction is two sums. Miles driven through June 30 are multiplied by 72.5 cents, and miles driven from July 1 by 76 cents. A log that only has a year total cannot be split, which is one reason each trip needs its own date.

The 2025 rates

For 2025 returns, the business rate is 70 cents a mile for the whole year. The medical and moving rate is 21 cents and the charitable rate is 14 cents. Publication 463 (2025) states the business rate in the What's New section.

Business rate history

Note. Verify this table against the IRS rates page before publish.

What the rate covers

The business rate is meant to cover the fixed and variable costs of operating a car. If you use it, you cannot also deduct depreciation, lease payments, maintenance, repairs, gasoline, oil, insurance, or registration fees for that car in that year. You can still deduct business-related parking fees and tolls, and the business share of interest on a car loan and of personal property tax on the car.

Part of each year's rate is depreciation, which reduces the basis of your car. The amounts are on the standard mileage rate vs. actual expenses page.

Who can use the rate

You must choose the standard mileage rate in the first year you use the car for business. In later years you can switch to actual expenses, but you cannot switch back to the standard rate for a car you have depreciated under MACRS, claimed a section 179 deduction for, or claimed the special depreciation allowance for. You cannot use the rate if you use five or more cars for business at the same time. The details are on standard mileage rate vs. actual expenses.

The rate as a reimbursement rate

Employers often reimburse at the standard rate. Under an accountable plan, a mileage allowance at or below the federal rate is not reported as wages. An allowance above it is wages for the excess. See mileage reimbursement.

Mileage rate calculator

The deduction, or a reimbursement at the federal rate, is business miles times the rate for the period in which they were driven. To calculate the mileage rate for a trip, multiply the miles by the rate in cents and divide by 100.

• 2025. 12,000 business miles × $0.70 = $8,400.
• 2026, first half. 5,500 business miles from January 1 to June 30 × $0.725 = $3,987.50.
• 2026, second half. 6,100 business miles from July 1 to December 31 × $0.76 = $4,636.
• 2026 total. $3,987.50 + $4,636 = $8,623.50, plus business parking and tolls.
• Cents per mile at a company rate. 320 miles × $0.62 = $198.40.

The same arithmetic with worked reimbursement examples is on the mileage calculator.

Review note. An interactive mileage rate calculator ships on this page at launch, with the rate for each year and period built in.

How Miles handles this

Miles stores the IRS rates by date range, not by year, so the 2026 split is applied per trip. The tax summary shows the deduction for each rate period on its own line. Rates for medical, moving, and charitable driving are applied to trips with those purposes. A custom rate covers employer reimbursement at a rate other than the federal one. Rates ship with app updates, since the app has no server to fetch them from.

Miles is coming soon.

Canada has no per-kilometre rate for the self-employed. Its employer allowance rates are on CRA automobile allowance rates.