Calculator · Tax year 2026
Mileage Deduction Calculator 2026
Enter your business miles to get your 2026 deduction with both IRS rates, add parking and tolls, and see how much tax it saves. Optionally, compare it with deducting your actual car expenses.
mileage receipt · 2026
Enter your business miles and your receipt prints here.
The 2026 IRS mileage rates
1,000 business miles are worth $725 in the first half and $760 in the second.
If you only know your total for the year, the calculator splits it between both rates by the number of days in each half. If your log shows miles before and after July 1, enter them separately for the exact figure.
Example
A single freelancer drives 5,000 business miles from January to June and 7,000 from July to December, pays $300 in parking and tolls, and has $40,000 of profit before car costs.
| 5,000 miles × 72.5¢ | $3,625 |
|---|---|
| 7,000 miles × 76¢ | $5,320 |
| Parking and tolls | $300 |
| Total deduction | $9,245 |
| Self-employment tax saved | $1,306 |
| Income tax saved | $777 |
| Federal tax saved | $2,083 |
Because the deduction lowers your Schedule C profit, it cuts both self-employment tax and income tax. That is why logging every business mile pays off.
What counts as a business mile
- Counts: trips to clients, job sites, stores for supplies, pickups and deliveries, and driving between jobs.
- Does not count: commuting from home to a regular workplace, and personal errands, even during a work day.
- Depends: trips from home count if your home office is your principal place of business. See our home office guide.
Delivery and rideshare apps often count only miles with an active order or passenger. Driving to the pickup area and between trips usually counts too, so your own log will show more.
Standard rate or actual expenses?
Instead of the mileage rate, you can deduct the business share of what the car really cost you: gas, insurance, repairs, tires, registration, lease payments and depreciation. The rate usually wins for economical cars driven a lot; actual expenses can win for costly vehicles driven fewer miles. The calculator's comparison shows which is bigger for you.
Mind the first-year rule: to use the standard rate for a car you own, you generally have to choose it in the first year you use the car for business. Our guide to mileage vs actual expenses explains the details.
Where the deduction goes
You report it on Schedule C, line 9, and answer the vehicle questions in Part IV. To see what you owe after the deduction, use our gig driver tax calculator or our 1099 tax calculator.
Frequently asked questions
What is the IRS mileage rate for 2026?
For business miles, 72.5¢ per mile from January 1, 2026 through June 30, 2026, and 76¢ per mile from July 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026. The IRS raised the rate in the middle of the year, so miles driven in the second half are worth more.
What counts as business miles?
Driving from one work location to another: to clients, job sites, pickups and deliveries, and between jobs. Commuting from home to a regular place of work does not count. If your home office is your principal place of business, trips from home to other work locations can count.
Can I deduct gas as well as the mileage rate?
No. The standard rate already covers gas, oil, maintenance, repairs, tires, insurance, registration and depreciation. Parking fees and tolls for work are deducted on top, and the self-employed can also deduct the business share of car loan interest.
What records do I need?
A mileage log with the date, the miles, where you went and the business purpose of each trip, kept as you go. Also write down your odometer reading at the start and end of the year. Tracking apps can build the log for you.
What about medical or charity miles?
They use different rates and are not business deductions. For 2026, the medical rate is 20.5¢ per mile through June 30, 2026 and 23.5¢ after, and the charity rate is 14¢ per mile. This calculator only covers business miles.
I am a W-2 employee. Can I use this?
Generally no. Unreimbursed employee travel is not deductible on your federal return. The mileage deduction on Schedule C is for the self-employed: freelancers, contractors and gig workers.
Sources
Gig driver tax calculator → ·How we calculate and verify our numbers →