The IRS mileage rate 2026 is not one number this year — it is two. The IRS set the business rate at 72.5 cents per mile for driving from January 1 through June 30, then raised it mid-year to 76 cents per mile for driving from July 1 through December 31. It is a rare mid-year change, and it means your mileage log has to know which half of the year each trip fell in. Get that split wrong and your deduction is wrong, even if your total miles are right.
The change came because fuel and operating costs rose sharply in the first half of 2026. The IRS announced the original 72.5-cent rate on December 29, 2025 (Notice 2026-10, IR-2025-128), then announced the increase on July 13, 2026 (Announcement 2026-11, IR-2026-29). The increase is not retroactive: a mile driven in May is worth 72.5 cents even if you submit the expense report in October. This guide explains both rates, who can claim them, and the records the IRS expects you to keep.
The 2026 Split: Two Rates in One Year
For most drivers the story is simple: the business rate was 70 cents per mile in 2025, rose to 72.5 cents on January 1, 2026, and rose again to 76 cents on July 1, 2026. The same announcement moved the medical and moving rate from 20.5 cents in the first half to 23.5 cents in the second half, while the charitable rate stayed fixed at 14 cents per mile by law. The rates apply to cars, vans, pickups, and panel trucks — including electric, hybrid, gasoline, and diesel vehicles.
What trips people up is the date rule. The rate that applies is the one in effect on the day you drove, not the day you filed the expense or the day you got reimbursed. A delivery driver who logged 1,000 business miles in June and 1,000 in July claims $725 for the first batch and $760 for the second — a $35 difference from two identical months of driving. If your log only has monthly totals, you can still split by date; if it only has a yearly total, you cannot, and the IRS expects the split. For the records that back up a return, see our guide to using a bank statement for your income tax return.
IRS Mileage Rate 2026 for Business, Medical, and Charity
The business rate is the one most people use, and it covers self-employed people who drive for work: a freelancer visiting clients, a real estate agent showing homes, a contractor driving to job sites. If you are self-employed, you deduct business miles on Schedule C at the rate in effect for the date of each trip. Employees are in a different position: since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, unreimbursed employee business expenses are generally not deductible on a personal return, so the rate matters to employees mainly through employer reimbursement.
For employers, the standard rate is a ceiling. Reimburse at or below the applicable rate and the payment is not taxable income for the employee; reimburse above it and the excess is taxable wages that belong on the W-2. The medical rate covers driving for medical care, and the moving rate applies only to active-duty Armed Forces members and certain intelligence community personnel. The charitable rate is set by statute at 14 cents and never moves with the annual announcement — if you drive for a charity, that is the number.
Claiming the IRS Mileage Rate 2026 on Your Tax Return
To claim the IRS mileage rate 2026 on your return, you need a mileage log that proves four things for every trip: the date, the number of miles, the destination, and the business purpose. IRS Publication 463 sets that standard, and it is strict about it: a log that says "business driving, 12,000 miles" with no dates or destinations will not survive an audit. A notebook works, a spreadsheet works, and a phone app works — what matters is that each trip has its own line with all four facts.
The other thing to know is what does not count. Commuting — driving from home to your regular workplace — is never deductible, even if you carry tools or stop for a work call on the way. The miles that count are the ones between business stops: from your office to a client, from one job site to another, from a client meeting to the supply store. Keep the log as you go; reconstructing a year of trips from memory in April is how deductions get lost or invented, and invented entries are worse than missing ones.
Mileage, Bank Statements, and Your Records
Your mileage log is the main record, but your bank statements back it up. Fuel, tolls, parking, and repairs all pass through an account, and the statement shows the dates and amounts. If the IRS ever questions a trip, a fuel purchase on the same day in the same town is useful supporting evidence — not proof of the trip by itself, but part of a consistent record. The habit that makes this easy is monthly: download each statement, convert it with our bank statement to Excel converter, and tag the vehicle costs while you still remember the trips they belong to.
Keep the records for at least three years from the date you file the return that claims the deduction — that is the window the IRS generally has to examine it. And remember the first-year rule: if you use the standard rate in the first year you put a car into business service, you keep the choice to switch to actual expenses later; if you use actual expenses first, you cannot switch to the standard rate for that car afterward. For the full picture on estimated payments and deadlines, see our quarterly tax due dates for 2026.
