Mileage Deduction Calculator

The standard mileage rate turns business miles into a deduction: multiply the business miles you drove by the rate the IRS set for the dates you drove them. The IRS publishes that rate and can change it partway through a year — 2026 is such a year — so a year's miles are figured period by period rather than at one rate. Miles count as business miles when the driving itself is for work; commuting between your home and a regular place of work is a personal expense the IRS does not allow, per IRS Publication 463. This page does the arithmetic at the published rates; it is a calculator, not tax advice.

1. 01

   Pick the tax year

   The year picker offers every year the IRS rate table covers and opens on the current one. Choosing a year lays out its rate periods — one for a year the rate held steady, two for a year the IRS changed it partway through.

2. 02

   Enter the business miles for each period

   Each line shows its dates and the IRS rate those dates carry, and takes the business miles you drove in them. When a year has two periods, miles driven before the change go on the first line and miles after it on the second — the rate that applies is the one in force on the day you drove.

3. 03

   Or add the miles up trip by trip

   If you count trips rather than reading an odometer, open Log it by trip: one row per trip with its one-way miles, whether you drove back, and how many times you made it. Round trips are counted both ways. Send the total into a rate period and it adds to the miles already there.

4. 04

   Read the deduction

   You get the deduction for each period and the year's total. Enter your own marginal tax rate and it also shows what the deduction is worth at that rate — nothing is assumed for you, because the rate that applies to your next dollar depends on your whole return.

What is the IRS standard mileage rate?

The IRS standard mileage rate for business use is $0.70 a mile from January 1, 2025; $0.725 a mile from January 1, 2026; $0.76 a mile from July 1, 2026. Each rate applies to miles driven on or after its date until the next one takes effect, so a year the IRS changed the rate partway through has two rates in it. These figures come straight from the IRS's published standard mileage rate table, which we re-check against irs.gov and update whenever the IRS changes it.

What is the difference between the standard mileage rate and actual expenses?

They are the two methods the IRS allows for deducting the cost of a vehicle used for business. The standard mileage rate is a single cents-per-mile figure that stands in for your operating costs — gas, maintenance, tires, insurance, registration, and depreciation. The actual expense method deducts the business-use share of what the vehicle really cost you, which means keeping the receipts and working out the business-use percentage. Which method you may use, and when you can switch between them, is set out in IRS Publication 463 — this calculator figures the standard mileage method only and does not tell you which to choose.

What counts as business miles?

Driving that the work itself requires: travelling between two work locations, out to a client or a jobsite, to pick up materials or tools, to the bank or the supply house on business, or from your home office to a work site when your home is your principal place of business. Personal driving on the same trip does not count, and neither does commuting. The IRS sets out the cases in Publication 463.

Can I deduct the drive between home and work?

No. The IRS treats the cost of getting between your home and your regular place of work as a personal commuting expense, no matter how far it is or whether you carry tools in the truck. Publication 463 states the rule and the narrow situations that are not commuting — for example travel between two work locations in the same day, or from a home that qualifies as your principal place of business out to a work site.

What does a mileage log have to record?

Enough to prove each trip: the date, the miles driven, where you went, and the business purpose. The IRS expects records kept at or near the time of the driving rather than reconstructed at year end, and it can disallow miles you cannot support. ScribeLine records miles on the day they were driven against the job they belong to and prices them at that day's rate, so the log and the total build themselves as the year goes.

Can employees deduct mileage?

Generally no. Unreimbursed employee expenses, mileage included, are not deductible as a miscellaneous itemized deduction; the IRS lists only a few categories that can still claim them, among them Armed Forces reservists, qualified performing artists, fee-basis state or local government officials, and employees with impairment-related work expenses. If your employer reimburses your business miles under an accountable plan, the reimbursement is generally not taxable income and there is nothing left to deduct. This calculator is aimed at self-employed people and business owners who deduct their own mileage.