Mileage Deduction Calculator: 2026 IRS Rates
The business standard mileage rate for 2026 is 72.5 cents per mile from January 1 through June 30 and 76 cents per mile from July 1 through December 31 — the IRS raised it mid-year. Any calculator that multiplies your annual miles by a single rate gives the wrong answer, so the tool above takes each half of the year separately.
A driver with 5,000 business miles in the first half and 7,000 in the second deducts $8,945, at a blended 74.54 cents per mile. In the 12% bracket that deduction is worth $2,337 — because it cuts self-employment tax as well as income tax.
Mileage Deduction calculators
How it works
You can deduct business driving two ways, and you pick one per vehicle. The standard mileage rate multiplies business miles by a per-mile figure the IRS sets, and that figure is meant to cover everything: gas, insurance, repairs, tires, registration, and depreciation. The actual expense method adds up what the car really cost you for the year and deducts the business-use share.
For 2026 the standard rate changed partway through the year. Miles driven January 1 through June 30 are deducted at 72.5 cents; miles driven July 1 through December 31 are deducted at 76 cents. Keeping the two totals separate is not optional bookkeeping — it is how the deduction is computed, and the gap is real money. Twelve thousand miles split evenly across the year deducts $8,910 rather than the $8,700 a flat 72.5-cent calculation would show — $210 left on the table — and a driver whose miles skew to the back half gains more.
The deduction is worth roughly double what most people assume, and this is the part competing calculators leave out. A business mileage deduction reduces your Schedule C net profit, and net profit is the base for both income tax and self-employment tax. So a dollar of mileage deduction saves your marginal income-tax rate plus the 14.13% effective self-employment rate. For a driver in the 12% bracket that is 26.13%, not 12%. In the 22% bracket it is 36.13%.
Which method wins depends on the car. Standard mileage usually wins for a high-mileage, low-cost vehicle — the classic delivery or rideshare case, where you put 20,000 miles on a paid-off economy car. Actual expenses usually wins for an expensive vehicle driven fewer miles, where depreciation and insurance dominate.
One rule catches people permanently: if you want the option to use the standard mileage rate for a car, you have to use it in the first year you put that car into business service. Take actual expenses first and you are locked out of the standard rate for the life of that vehicle. The reverse is not true — start with standard mileage and you may switch to actual expenses later.
None of it survives an audit without records. The IRS wants a contemporaneous log: date, miles, destination, and business purpose for each trip. A mileage-tracking app that logs automatically is the practical answer, and a reconstruction built in April from memory is what gets disallowed. Commuting between home and a regular workplace is never deductible, no matter which method you use.
Frequently asked questions
What is the IRS mileage rate for 2026?
The business standard mileage rate for 2026 is 72.5 cents per mile for miles driven January 1 through June 30, and 76 cents per mile for miles driven July 1 through December 31. The IRS raised the rate mid-year. Medical and moving mileage is 20.5 cents in the first half and 23.5 cents in the second; the charitable rate stays at 14 cents, because it is fixed by statute rather than adjusted for inflation.
How much is the mileage deduction actually worth?
For a self-employed filer, roughly your marginal income-tax rate plus 14.13%. The deduction lowers Schedule C net profit, which is the base for both income tax and self-employment tax, so it saves both. A $8,945 deduction saves $2,337 for someone in the 12% bracket — $1,073 of income tax plus $1,264 of self-employment tax. Calculators that quote only the income-tax saving understate the benefit by more than half.
Should I use the standard mileage rate or actual expenses?
Standard mileage usually wins for high-mileage driving in an inexpensive, paid-off car, which describes most delivery and rideshare work. Actual expenses usually wins for an expensive or newer vehicle driven relatively few business miles, where depreciation, insurance, and financing costs are large relative to mileage. Enter both in the calculator above to see the gap for your own numbers — and note that you can only compare honestly if you tracked both miles and receipts.
Can I switch between the mileage rate and actual expenses?
You can switch from the standard mileage rate to actual expenses in a later year, but not the other way around. To use the standard mileage rate for a vehicle at all, you must choose it in the first year that vehicle is used for business. Taking actual expenses in year one permanently forfeits the standard rate for that car. If you lease rather than own, whichever method you choose in the first year applies for the entire lease.
Does driving to my first delivery count as business miles?
For a gig driver with no fixed workplace, miles driven while the app is on and you are available for or completing work are generally business miles, including driving between deliveries. Commuting from home to a regular, fixed place of work is never deductible. The practical dividing line most gig drivers use is the app: log the trip when you go online and stop when you go offline, and keep the record contemporaneously rather than reconstructing it later.
What records do I need for a mileage deduction?
A contemporaneous log showing the date, the number of business miles, the destination, and the business purpose of each trip, plus your total annual mileage for the vehicle. "Contemporaneous" means recorded at or near the time of the trip — an estimate assembled at filing time is what gets disallowed on audit. Automatic mileage-tracking apps satisfy this, and keeping the odometer reading at January 1 and December 31 supports the business-use percentage.
Sources
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