How do I figure mileage reimbursement for 2026 if I drove all year?

Split your miles at July 1. Multiply the miles before July 1 by 72.5 cents and the miles after by 76 cents, then add the two. If you only know your total for the year, the calculator splits it by days for an estimate. Your dated log gives you the real split.

My employer pays less than the IRS rate. Can I get the difference back?

Not on your federal tax return. W-2 employees lost the deduction for work costs in 2018, and the 2025 tax law made that permanent. You can ask your employer to raise the rate. California, Illinois, and Massachusetts also require employers to pay employees back for work driving.

Do I pay taxes on mileage reimbursement?

No, if your employer pays at or under the IRS rate and you report your miles to them. If they pay more than the IRS rate, the extra counts as pay and gets taxed. You will see it in box 1 of your W-2.

How strict does a mileage log have to be?

The IRS wants the date, the miles, where you went, and why, for every business trip. A notebook, a spreadsheet, or an app all work. A log you keep as you drive holds up much better than one you rebuild in April.

Can I write off mileage as a W-2 employee?

No, not on a federal return, unless you are an Armed Forces reservist, a qualified performing artist, a state or local official paid by fee, or you have work costs tied to a disability. If you also have a side business paid on a 1099 form, those side-business miles count.

Can I get audited over my mileage deduction if I never kept a log?

The IRS can ask for proof of any deduction. Without a log, it can take away the whole mileage deduction. A log you rebuild from your calendar is better than nothing, but a log you kept as you drove is what holds up.

Why do I still owe money after a big mileage deduction?

A deduction lowers the income you pay tax on. It does not pay your tax for you. A $6,000 deduction in the 22% bracket cuts your income tax by about $1,320, plus some self-employment tax. If you owed $5,000 before, you still owe, just less.

Can I get a PDF of my mileage deduction for my accountant?

Yes. Type your miles in the calculator at the top of this page and click Get a PDF for my accountant. The free PDF shows your total, where it goes on Schedule C and Schedule A, and the math. No email or signup.

Can I use the mileage total DoorDash sends me as my log?

Use it as a starting point. A yearly total does not show the date, the place, and the reason for each trip, and the IRS wants all of those. Keep your own log for every business trip.

IRS Mileage Rate Calculator 2026

The 2026 IRS business mileage rate is 72.5¢ a mile from January through June, and 76¢ a mile from July 1 on.

Type your miles below to see your deduction and get a free PDF for your accountant.

Updated October 26, 2026 by Doug, owner of Shoeboxed

What is the IRS mileage rate for 2026?

The IRS mileage rate is 76 cents a mile for business driving from July 1, 2026 on. Before July 1, it was 72.5 cents a mile.

	2025	Jan–Jun 2026	Jul–Dec 2026
Business	70¢	72.5¢	76¢
Medical	21¢	20.5¢	23.5¢
Charity	14¢	14¢	14¢

From the IRS. The charity rate is set by law, so it stays the same.

How to figure your 2026 mileage, with examples

Multiply your business miles by the rate for the date you drove.

You drove	Deduction
1,000 miles in March1,000 × 72.5¢	$725
1,000 miles in September1,000 × 76¢	$760
400 miles in June and 600 in August400 × 72.5¢ + 600 × 76¢	$746
8,000 miles, all year3,967 × 72.5¢ + 4,033 × 76¢	$5,941

The calculator does this math for you. Add your business parking and tolls on top.

How to figure your mileage reimbursement at the 2026 IRS rate

If your employer pays you back at the IRS rate, the math is the same: your work miles times 72.5¢ before July 1 and 76¢ from July 1 on.

Type your work miles into Business miles in the calculator at the top of this page. The big number is what your employer owes you at the IRS rate.

A reimbursement at or under the IRS rate stays tax-free when you report your miles to your employer. Give them a log with the date, the miles, where you went, and why, for every trip. The Shoeboxed app keeps that log on your phone as you drive.

How many business miles a year people drive for work, from 158 Shoeboxed drivers

The Shoeboxed mileage tracker logged 127,115 trips for 294 drivers from February to October 2026.

We counted the 158 drivers who labeled at least 20 trips as business. Half of them drove more than 6,730 business miles in a year.

6,730

half of our drivers drove more business miles than this in a year

$4,998

what 6,730 business miles are worth as a 2026 deduction

5.4 miles

half of all business trips were shorter than this

$4.10

what one 5.4-mile business trip is worth at 76¢ a mile

Short trips add up, and they are the ones people forget to write down.

How many business miles a year contractors, realtors, insurance agents, and home care workers drive

Kind of work	Half drove more than this a year	Most miles by one driver
Contractors and trades10 drivers measured	11,130 miles	56,070 miles
Insurance agents5 drivers measured	7,830 miles	10,400 miles
Realtors17 drivers measured	5,340 miles	29,110 miles
Home care and healthcare6 drivers measured	4,640 miles	8,340 miles
All drivers158 drivers measured	6,730 miles	56,070 miles

A trip counts here only when the driver labeled it as business. Drivers leave some trips unlabeled, so their real business miles can be higher.

What my miles are worth in my first full year off a W-2

For about 15 years I worked as a CEO for hire, paid on a W-2. I drove a lot for work, and none of those miles counted on my taxes.

In 2025 I bought Shoeboxed. 2026 is my first full year as a business owner, and now I deduct my business miles on Schedule C.

I track every drive with our mileage tracker. Here are the drives I labeled from February through October, projected out to all of 2026.

My 2026 miles, projected	Miles	Worth
Business	1,793	$1,340
Medical*	1,009	$220
Charity**	91	$13
Total	2,893	$1,573

* Medical miles only count if you itemize on Schedule A, and only toward medical costs above 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. Our medical bills likely won't clear that bar this year, so these miles probably won't lower my taxes.

** Charity miles count if you itemize on Schedule A. They're worth 14¢ a mile, so 100 miles takes $14 off your taxable income. Congress set that rate in 1997 and never raised it.

That counts only the drives I've labeled. The tracker texts me every evening to ask about the rest.

Who can deduct mileage?

If you're self-employed or got paid on a 1099 form, you deduct your business miles on Schedule C, line 9.

W-2 employees can't deduct work miles on their federal return. Their employer can pay them back, tax-free, instead.

Which miles count?

Driving for work counts, like trips to clients, job sites, the bank, or the supply store.

Your drive from home to your regular workplace is commuting, and it never counts. A home office can change that, as the next answer shows.

Run your business from home? Your drive to the first job can count as business miles

Most people think the first drive of the day is a commute.

The IRS says commuting miles never count. A home office changes that. When your home office is your main place of business, the drive from home to a client or a job site is a business trip, and so is the drive back home. In the words of IRS Publication 463:

"If you have an office in your home that qualifies as a principal place of business, you can deduct your daily transportation costs between your home and another work location in the same trade or business."

Say you drive 10 miles from home to your first job each morning, and 10 miles home from your last job each night. You work 200 days a year, so you drive 4,000 of these miles. Without a home office, the IRS calls them a commute, and you deduct nothing. With a home office, you deduct $2,971 for 2026.

Your home office has to pass two tests from IRS Publication 587. First, you use one space in your home only for the business, and you use it regularly to run the business, like billing, scheduling, and the books. Second, you have no other fixed office where you do that work.

That same office earns its own deduction too. Type your address into the free Shoeboxed home office deduction calculator to see what yours is worth.

Is it better to deduct gas or mileage?

For most cars, the mileage rate gives you a bigger deduction and less paperwork. You can't use both, because the rate already covers gas, repairs, and insurance.

To keep the mileage rate as an option, use it the first year you drive the car for business.

What do employers pay for mileage?

Most employers pay the IRS rate. Pay at or under it, and the money is not taxed as wages. Pay more, and the extra is taxed as pay.

California, Illinois, and Massachusetts require employers to pay employees back for work driving.

How do I keep a mileage log?

Write down the date, the miles, where you went, and why, for every business trip.

Our free mileage log template works on paper or in a spreadsheet. Or the Shoeboxed mileage tracker logs your drives with your phone and texts you each evening.

Every IRS mileage rate since 2017

Use the rate for the year you drove, not the year you file.

Year	Business	Medical	Charity
2026 Jul–Dec	76¢	23.5¢	14¢
2026 Jan–Jun	72.5¢	20.5¢	14¢
2025	70¢	21¢	14¢
2024	67¢	21¢	14¢
2023	65.5¢	22¢	14¢
2022 Jul–Dec	62.5¢	22¢	14¢
2022 Jan–Jun	58.5¢	18¢	14¢
2021	56¢	16¢	14¢
2020	57.5¢	17¢	14¢
2019	58¢	20¢	14¢
2018	54.5¢	18¢	14¢
2017	53.5¢	17¢	14¢

Common mileage questions

It depends on when you drove. Business miles from July 1, 2026 on are worth 76 cents each. Miles from January through June are worth 72.5 cents. Medical miles went from 20.5 to 23.5 cents on July 1, and charity miles stay at 14 cents all year.

Let your phone keep your mileage log

The Shoeboxed mileage tracker logs every drive and texts you each evening. Unlimited mileage tracking comes with every plan.

Track my miles from now on