Mileage Log Template for 2026
A free mileage log in CSV format, openable in Excel, Google Sheets, or Numbers, with the four fields the IRS actually requires: date, business miles, destination, and business purpose.
It is dated by row for a specific reason. 2026 has two business mileage rates — 72.5 cents through June 30 and 76 cents from July 1 — so an annual total cannot be deducted correctly.
Column headers for date, start location, destination, business purpose, odometer start and end, and business miles, with usage notes and two sample rows to delete.
What's in the template
- Date column, so miles fall into the correct 2026 rate period
- Start location, destination, and business purpose — the substantiation the IRS asks for
- Odometer start and end alongside a business miles column
- Notes on the 2026 split rate and the commuting exclusion
- Two sample rows showing the expected format, to be deleted before use
Why the log has to be dated in 2026
The IRS set the 2026 business standard mileage rate at 72.5 cents a mile for January 1 through June 30, then raised it to 76 cents for July 1 through December 31. Both rates apply within the same tax year.
That makes a year-end odometer difference useless as a record. Twelve thousand miles cannot be deducted without knowing when they were driven — spread evenly they are worth $8,910, but a flat calculation at the January rate produces $8,700. Every row in this log carries a date so the split is a filter rather than a guess.
What the IRS actually requires
A contemporaneous record showing, for each trip, the date, the number of business miles, the destination, and the business purpose — plus the vehicle's total mileage for the year, which establishes your business-use percentage.
"Contemporaneous" is the word that does the work. It means recorded at or near the time of the trip. A log assembled in April from calendar entries and bank statements is a reconstruction, and reconstructions are what get disallowed on audit. Filling this in weekly is enough; filling it in annually is not.
Which miles count
Business miles are miles driven for the business: to a client, between job sites, to collect supplies, to the post office with orders. For gig drivers, miles driven while the app is on and you are available — including driving to a pickup and repositioning between jobs — are business miles, not just the paid delivery distance.
Commuting is never deductible. Driving from home to a regular place of work is personal, however far it is, and the fact that you are self-employed does not change it. The distinction the IRS draws is between travelling to work and travelling for work.
What the deduction is worth
More than most people assume, because a business mileage deduction reduces Schedule C net profit — and net profit is the base for both income tax and self-employment tax. A deducted dollar therefore 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%, so an $8,910 deduction is worth about $2,328 rather than the $1,069 an income-tax-only calculation suggests. It is why a log filled in weekly is one of the better-paid half hours in a self-employed year. Our mileage deduction calculator prices your own miles at both 2026 rates.
A spreadsheet or an app?
Either satisfies the IRS. The practical difference is that an app records trips automatically, which is the failure mode a spreadsheet does not solve — the miles you lose are usually the ones you forgot to write down, not the ones you recorded incorrectly.
Use this template if your business driving is occasional and predictable enough to log reliably: a few client visits a month, a weekly supply run. If you drive daily for a gig platform, an automatic tracker will capture more and cost you less effort, and the tax saved on the extra captured miles typically exceeds the subscription — see our comparison of mileage tracker apps.
Frequently asked questions
What does the IRS require in a mileage log?
For each trip: the date, the number of business miles, the destination, and the business purpose. You also need the vehicle's total annual mileage to establish the business-use percentage. The record must be contemporaneous — kept at or near the time of the trip — which is why a figure reconstructed at filing time is the deduction most often disallowed.
What is the 2026 mileage rate?
72.5 cents per business mile for miles driven January 1 through June 30, 2026, and 76 cents per mile from July 1 through December 31. The IRS raised the rate mid-year, so both apply within the same tax year and your log must be dated well enough to separate them. Medical and moving mileage is 20.5 cents then 23.5 cents; the charitable rate stays at 14 cents.
Can I use a spreadsheet instead of a mileage app?
Yes. The IRS does not require an app, only a contemporaneous record with the right fields. A spreadsheet works well for occasional, predictable business driving. It works poorly for daily gig work, where the miles you lose are the ones you forget to record rather than the ones you record wrongly — an automatic tracker usually captures more than it costs.
Do I have to log personal miles too?
You do not need trip-level detail for personal driving, but you do need the vehicle's total annual mileage, because your business-use percentage is business miles divided by total miles. That percentage matters if you ever use the actual expense method, and it supports the reasonableness of your business figure either way. Recording the odometer on January 1 and December 31 is enough.
Does the mileage deduction reduce self-employment tax?
Yes, and that is where most of its value comes from. The deduction reduces Schedule C net profit, which is the base for both income tax and self-employment tax, so it saves your marginal rate plus the 14.13% effective self-employment rate — about 26% combined in the 12% bracket. Estimates that quote only the income-tax saving understate it by more than half.
Sources
We prioritize primary sources for rules, formulas, rates, limits, and definitions. See our calculator methodology and editorial policy.