The IRS standard mileage rate for 2026 is 72.5¢ per mile for business use — up 2.5 cents from 2025 and the highest business rate the IRS has ever published. If you're self-employed and drive 10,000 business miles this year, that's a $7,250 deduction for doing nothing but keeping a proper log.
The 2026 rates at a glance (effective January 1, 2026):
- Business: 72.5¢ per mile
- Medical: 20.5¢ per mile
- Charity: 14¢ per mile
- Moving: 20.5¢ per mile — but only for active-duty military moving under orders, and (new for 2026) certain members of the intelligence community
Source: IRS Notice 2026-10, announced December 2025.
Standard mileage rates by year
The IRS resets the business and medical rates every year based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating a car. The charity rate is set by statute (26 USC §170(i)) and hasn't moved since 1998. In 2022, unusually, the IRS raised the rates mid-year in response to fuel prices — the only split year in recent history.
| Year | Business | Medical / moving* | Charity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 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¢ |
*Since 2018 the moving rate applies only to active-duty members of the U.S. Armed Forces moving under military orders — and, starting in 2026, certain members of the intelligence community. All figures are cents per mile, per IRS.gov.
What is the standard mileage rate?
It's the simple way to deduct the cost of business driving. Instead of tracking every gas receipt, repair bill, and insurance payment and then splitting them between business and personal use (the "actual expense" method), you deduct a flat amount per business mile. One number covers the whole cost of operating the car.
That's why the deduction is so easy to underestimate: the rate isn't a gas allowance. Gas is maybe a third of it — the rest reflects depreciation, insurance, maintenance, tires, and registration, averaged across American drivers by the IRS's annual cost study.
What the business rate covers — and what it doesn't
The 72.5¢ bundles all of these — you can't deduct them again on top:
- Gas and oil
- Repairs, maintenance, and tires
- Insurance and registration fees
- Depreciation (or lease payments)
You can deduct these separately, in addition to the mileage rate:
- Parking fees and tolls paid for business trips
- The business-use share of car-loan interest and state personal property taxes on the vehicle (self-employed filers)
One subtlety worth knowing if you ever sell the car: a slice of every year's rate counts as depreciation (2026: 35 cents of the 72.5¢), and it reduces your basis in the vehicle. Your tax software or preparer handles this — but it's the reason the IRS wants per-year mileage totals, not one lifetime number.
Who can use the standard mileage rate
- Self-employed people and independent contractors — freelancers, consultants, landlords driving to properties, and every 1099 gig driver. The deduction goes on Schedule C (or Schedule E), and you don't need to itemize to take it.
- W-2 employees: generally no. The deduction for unreimbursed employee mileage was suspended in 2018, and the 2025 tax law (the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act) made that permanent. Exceptions who may still deduct: Armed Forces reservists, fee-basis state and local officials, certain performing artists, and eligible educators. If you drive for your employer, ask about a reimbursement plan instead — employers can reimburse at the IRS rate tax-free.
- Medical miles (20.5¢/mile) — driving to appointments, treatment, or the pharmacy — count toward your itemized medical expenses, which are deductible only above 7.5% of adjusted gross income.
- Charity miles (14¢/mile) — driving in service of a qualified charity (delivering meals, transporting donations) — are an itemized charitable deduction.
What your miles are worth in 2026
Example 1 — Freelance consultant
Maya drives 12,000 miles to client sites, networking events, and the office-supply store for her design business.
12,000 miles × 72.5¢ = $8,700 off her self-employment income — before adding her parking and tolls.
Example 2 — Delivery driver
Sam delivers food and packages across two apps and logs 18,000 deductible business miles.
18,000 miles × 72.5¢ = $13,050. Because self-employment income is hit by both income tax and ~15.3% self-employment tax, a deduction that size is often worth $3,000–4,000 in real cash. See the gig-driver guide for which miles count.
Example 3 — Medical driving
A year of specialist visits adds up to 600 miles: 600 × 20.5¢ = $123 toward itemized medical expenses.
Standard mileage vs. actual expenses
The standard rate is optional — you can instead deduct the business share of what the car actually cost you (fuel, insurance, repairs, depreciation). Actual expenses can win for newer or expensive vehicles; the standard rate usually wins for reliable, efficient cars and is dramatically simpler. Two timing rules matter:
- Own the car? You must choose the standard rate in the first year you use the car for business to keep the option of switching between methods later. Start with actual expenses and you're locked out of the standard rate for that car.
- Lease the car? If you pick the standard rate, you must keep it for the entire lease term.
Either way you need the same thing: a record of your business miles. Even under actual expenses, the business-use percentage that splits every cost comes from your mileage log.
The catch: no log, no deduction
Vehicle deductions sit under the tax code's strict substantiation rules (§274(d)) — the IRS can disallow every mile you can't back up with a timely-kept record of the date, distance, destination, and business purpose. It is the single most common way this deduction dies in an audit. Our guide to IRS mileage log requirements covers exactly what a compliant log looks like — and if you'd rather not think about it, an automatic tracker builds the log as you drive.