IRS Standard Mileage Rates by Year (2015–2026)

By Reese Calloway · Updated 2026-09-28

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The IRS business standard mileage rate for 2026 is 72.5 cents per mile for January 1 through June 30 and 76 cents per mile for July 1 through December 31. The IRS raised it mid-year in Announcement 2026-11, the first split year since 2022, when the rate rose from 58.5 to 62.5 cents on July 1. The table lists every business, medical or military moving, and charitable rate from 2015 through 2026 as the IRS publishes them.

All figures are cents per mile. The depreciation column comes from the table in Publication 463 (2025), which stops at 2025; for 2026, see Notice 2026-10. The charitable rate is fixed by statute, which is why it has stayed at 14 cents. The business rate reflects an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating a car, and the medical and moving rate uses only the variable costs. The rates apply to gasoline, diesel, hybrid and fully electric vehicles alike. Moving mileage is deductible today only for certain active-duty members of the Armed Forces and, under the 2025 law, certain members of the intelligence community.

Which 2026 miles get 72.5 cents and which get 76 cents

The IRS table applies 72.5 cents to 2026 (Jan. 1 – June 30) and 76 cents to 2026 (July 1 – Dec. 31). Announcement 2026-11, published in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2026-29 on July 13, 2026, made the revised business, medical and moving rates effective beginning July 1, 2026, and modified Notice 2026-10. Medical and moving mileage went from 20.5 to 23.5 cents; charitable mileage stayed at 14 cents. There is no single annual business rate for 2026, so a year-end odometer total is not enough. Your log needs dates.

Example: 8,000 business miles in 2026

A dated log shows 3,500 business miles from January 1 through June 30, 4,500 from July 1 through December 31, and $180 of business parking and tolls.

• January 1 – June 30: 3,500 × $0.725 = $2,537.50
• July 1 – December 31: 4,500 × $0.76 = $3,420.00
• Standard mileage amount: $2,537.50 + $3,420.00 = $5,957.50
• Business parking and tolls, deducted in addition: $180.00
• Total vehicle deduction: $5,957.50 + $180.00 = $6,137.50

Applying 72.5 cents to all 8,000 miles would give $5,800.00, which is $157.50 too low. Applying 76 cents to all of them would give $6,080.00, which is $122.50 too high. With 4,000 miles in each half, the amount would be $2,900.00 + $3,040.00 = $5,940.00.

What the standard rate covers and what you still deduct

For a year you use the standard rate, you can’t also deduct actual car costs. Depreciation or lease payments, maintenance and repairs, gasoline and oil, insurance, and registration fees are all built into the rate. A few costs stay separately deductible:

• business parking fees and tolls, but not parking at your regular place of work;
• if you are self-employed, the business share of interest on a car loan (60% of the interest when the car is used 60% for business);
• if you are self-employed, the business share of state and local personal property tax on the vehicle.

Only business miles count. Commuting between home and a regular workplace is not deductible, but if your home office is your principal place of business, round trips from home to a client’s location are.

When you can choose the standard rate

Publication 463 and IR-2025-128 set these rules:

• For a car you own, choose the standard rate in the first year the car is available for use in your business. In later years you can use either the standard rate or actual expenses.
• You make the choice by the return due date, including extensions, and can’t revoke it. If you later switch to actual expenses before the car is fully depreciated, you must use straight-line depreciation over its remaining estimated useful life.
• For a leased car, once you use the standard rate you must keep it for the entire lease period, including renewals.
• The standard rate is not allowed if you use five or more cars at the same time, or for a car on which you claimed depreciation other than straight line, used MACRS, claimed a section 179 deduction or the special depreciation allowance, or claimed actual expenses after 1997 for a leased car.

Starting a new car on actual expenses with MACRS, section 179 or the special depreciation allowance therefore closes the standard-rate option for that car. The mileage vs actual car expenses guide compares the two methods with 2026 numbers.

Mileage records the IRS expects

Publication 463 lists what a car-expense record must show:

• the date of each business use and the miles driven;
• the business destination and the business purpose;
• total miles for the year;
• the car’s cost and any improvements, and the date you started using it for business.

Record entries at or near the time of the trip; a log kept weekly counts as timely. Records for a representative part of the year can support the business-use share for the whole year if other evidence shows the sample is representative. For 2026, subtotal business miles at June 30 and December 31 so each half gets its own rate. The simple bookkeeping guide shows how to keep the log alongside your other business records.

Reducing the car’s basis for standard-rate miles

Part of each standard-rate mile is treated as depreciation. When you sell the car or switch to actual expenses, reduce its basis, but not below zero, by the depreciation amount for every business mile claimed at the standard rate.

Example: a car bought for $30,000 is driven 10,000 business miles in 2024 and 12,000 in 2025, both years at the standard rate.

• 2024: 10,000 × $0.30 = $3,000
• 2025: 12,000 × $0.33 = $3,960
• Basis reduction: $3,000 + $3,960 = $6,960
• Basis before other adjustments: $30,000 − $6,960 = $23,040

Vehicle deductions lower business profit, which reduces self-employment tax as well as income tax. The self-employment tax calculator shows that effect, and 2026 self-employment tax rates lists the rates it applies.

This page is general information about IRS mileage rates, not tax advice.

Sources

• IRS: Standard mileage rates
• IRS: IR-2025-128, 2026 business standard mileage rate set at 72.5 cents per mile
• IRS: Internal Revenue Bulletin 2026-29, Announcement 2026-11
• IRS Publication 463 (2025), Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses