The 2026 business mileage rate is 72.5 cents a mile from January 1 through June 30, and 76 cents a mile from July 1 through December 31. A year that crosses July 1 is two multiplications. The 2025 business rate on the same IRS table is 70 cents for the whole year. The rate is one way to deduct the car. Actual expenses are the other, and a year that uses the rate does not also deduct gasoline, insurance, or depreciation. The figures below are the ones on the IRS mileage table and in Publication 463 (2025), read on October 3, 2026.
Two Rates in 2026, One Rate in 2025
The IRS standard mileage rates page says you may be able to take a deduction based on the mileage used for business, charity, medical, or moving purposes. Its table, not the bullet list under the July heading, is the full business column. Business use is 72.5 cents for 2026 from January 1 through June 30, sourced there as IR-2025-128. Business use is 76 cents for 2026 from July 1 through December 31, sourced there as IR-2026-29. The 2025 row is 70 cents for the year, sourced as IR-2024-312. Charity stays at 14 cents in each of those rows. Medical and military moving are 20.5 cents in the first half of 2026, 23.5 cents in the second half, and 21 cents for 2025.
The same table's business column is one figure for 2023, 2024, and 2025. It is two figures for 2022, 58.5 cents and then 62.5 cents, and two figures again for 2026. A 2025 return uses the 70-cent row. A 2026 log needs a total for each half.
Which Trip Is a Business Mile
Publication 463 calls the trip between home and a main or regular place of work a personal commuting expense. Daily transportation from home to one or more regular places of business is generally a nondeductible commuting expense, and the publication says there may be exceptions. The exception that matters for a side hustle run from home is stated as a condition, not as a label that already fits: "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." That sentence is in Publication 463 (2025), and it points the qualifying question to Publication 587.
The publication's example of a principal place of business in the home deducts the round trip between the qualifying home office and a client's or customer's place of business. A different example has no regular office and no office in the home. In that example the first business contact inside the metropolitan area is treated as the office. The trip from home to that first contact is a nondeductible commuting expense. The trip from the last business contact back home is also a nondeductible commuting expense. The trip from one client or customer to another can be deducted.
An app's own mile count is a separate document. DoorDash's tax guide and Uber's tax guide say what those companies print. Uber's word for its online miles is "may." Neither count is the test in the two examples above.
The Rate, or the Actual Expenses
The same publication says what the rate replaces: "If you use the standard mileage rate for a year, you can't deduct your actual car expenses for that year. You can't deduct depreciation, lease payments, maintenance and repairs, gasoline (including gasoline taxes), oil, insurance, or vehicle registration fees."
Parking, interest, and the vehicle property tax sit outside that list. Business-related parking fees and tolls can be deducted in addition to the standard mileage rate. Parking fees paid to park the car at your place of work are nondeductible commuting expenses. If you are self-employed and use the car in the business, the business-use part of the car-loan interest can be deducted on Schedule C even when you use the standard rate. The same interest is not deducted a second time. The publication says a person eligible for both the qualified passenger vehicle loan interest and the business interest chooses Schedule 1-A or Schedule C, and cannot deduct the same amount more than once. State and local personal property taxes on the vehicle can be deducted on Schedule A even if you use the standard rate. The business part of those taxes, for a self-employed person, can go on Schedule C, with the rest included on Schedule A if you itemize.
For a car you own, choosing the standard rate has to happen in the first year the car is available for use in the business. In later years you can choose the standard rate or actual expenses. You can't revoke the choice for the year it was made. Switching later from the standard rate to actual expenses means you can't depreciate the car under MACRS. You must use straight line over the estimated remaining useful life, and the amount you depreciate can't be more than the depreciation limit for that year. For a car you lease, using the standard rate means using it for the entire lease period. You also can't use the standard rate if you use five or more cars at the same time, which the publication illustrates with a fleet.
Actual expenses start from a split, not from a second cents-per-mile figure. If the car is used for business and for personal trips, you divide the expenses by the miles driven for each purpose. The publication's contractor drives 20,000 miles in the year, 12,000 for business and 8,000 for personal use. 12,000 divided by 20,000 is 60%, and that example claims 60% of the cost of operating the car. Which method is larger depends on that cost. The example stops at 60% of the operating cost and does not give a dollar figure for it.
What a Timely Log Is
Publication 463 says to keep the proof in an account book, diary, log, statement of expense, trip sheets, or similar record, together with documentary evidence that supports each element. Its rule on timing is: "A timely kept record has more value than a statement prepared later when there is generally a lack of accurate recall." The sentence is in the recordkeeping section of Publication 463. You don't have to write every element on the day of the trip. A log maintained weekly that accounts for the use during the week is a timely kept record.
The publication's sample mileage record has columns for the date, the destination, the business purpose, the odometer at the start and at the stop, and the miles for the trip. The sample is printed with the line that it is not an official Internal Revenue form. If the records are incomplete, the missing element has to be proved with your own written or oral statement containing specific information about that element, plus other supporting evidence that is sufficient to establish it.
8,000 Miles, Split at July 1
The miles in this section are an illustration, so the multiplication can be checked. They are not a log and not a return. Take 4,000 business miles from January 1 through June 30, 2026, and 4,000 from July 1 through December 31.
4,000 times 72.5 cents is $2,900. 4,000 times 76 cents is $3,040. Added, the standard-rate deduction is $2,900 plus $3,040, which is $5,940.
The same 8,000 business miles driven in 2025, at the table's 70-cent rate for that year, are 8,000 times 70 cents, which is $5,600. The 2026 split on these miles is $340 more than that 2025 figure, because $5,940 minus $5,600 is $340. That gap is a comparison of the two rates. It is not a refund, and it is not an income-tax or self-employment-tax amount. The deduction lands as a car expense against the business receipts. Net profit on that return is where self-employment tax starts, and the line the expense sits on is walked in Schedule C explained.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the drive from home count as business mileage?
Publication 463 treats the trip from home to a main or regular place of work as a personal commuting expense. If a home office qualifies as the principal place of business, the publication says you can deduct daily transportation between that home and another work location in the same trade or business. Its example of a principal place of business in the home is the round trip between the qualifying home office and a client's place of business. A different example has no regular office and no office in the home: the first business contact inside the metropolitan area is treated as the office, the trip from home to that contact is a commuting expense, the trip home from the last contact is a commuting expense, and the trip from one client to another can be deducted. Whether a home office qualifies is the question Publication 463 sends to Publication 587.
Can I deduct mileage and gas in the same year?
Not if the mileage deduction is the standard rate. Publication 463 says that if you use the standard mileage rate for a year, you can't deduct that year's actual car expenses, and it lists depreciation, lease payments, maintenance and repairs, gasoline (including gasoline taxes), oil, insurance, and vehicle registration fees. Business-related parking fees and tolls can be deducted in addition to the rate. Parking fees paid to park at your place of work are a commuting expense. A self-employed person can still deduct the business-use part of car-loan interest on Schedule C, and cannot deduct that same interest a second time on Schedule 1-A.
What if the miles from earlier this year were not written down?
A log kept weekly, accounting for the use during that week, is a timely kept record under Publication 463. A statement prepared later has less value, because the publication says accurate recall is generally lacking then. If a record is incomplete, the publication says the missing element has to be proved with your own written or oral statement that gives specific information, plus other supporting evidence. The sample mileage table in the publication, with date, destination, business purpose, and odometer readings, is marked as not an official form.
Is the standard mileage rate always the larger deduction?
The two methods are alternatives. For a car you own, the standard rate has to be chosen in the first year the car is available for business use. In later years you can choose the standard rate or actual expenses. For a car you lease, using the standard rate means using it for the entire lease period. Actual expenses are split by miles: the publication's contractor drives 20,000 miles, 12,000 of them for business, and claims 60% of the operating cost. Which method produces the larger deduction depends on that cost. The standard-rate illustration on this page is 4,000 miles at 72.5 cents ($2,900) plus 4,000 miles at 76 cents ($3,040), which is $5,940.
Sources
- IRS, standard mileage rates, for business use at 72.5 cents from January 1 through June 30, 2026 (IR-2025-128), 76 cents from July 1 through December 31, 2026 (IR-2026-29), and 70 cents for 2025 (IR-2024-312), and for the 2022 mid-year rows of 58.5 cents and 62.5 cents
- Publication 463 (2025), Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses, for the commuting rule, the qualifying home-office exception and the two examples, the list of actual expenses the standard rate replaces, parking and tolls, car-loan interest and personal property tax, the first-year choice, the depreciation limit when a later year switches to actual expenses, and the five-car limit, the 12,000-of-20,000 example, and the timely-record rule
- Publication 587, Business Use of Your Home, the publication Publication 463 names for whether a home office qualifies as a principal place of business
