CALCULATOR
Mileage deduction calculator
Pick the year and enter your miles to see what the IRS standard mileage rate is worth to you. The 2026 rate changed on July 1, so for 2026 it asks for each half of the year.
How the standard mileage deduction works
The IRS sets a rate per mile every year. Multiply your business miles by that rate and you have the deduction. Gas, insurance and repairs are already inside the rate, so they are not added on top. Parking and tolls on business trips are the exception and count separately.
Medical and charity driving have their own, lower rates. Driving from home to your regular workplace is commuting, and commuting is not deductible.
The log is what makes it count
The deduction holds up when you can show each trip: the date, where you went, why it was for business and how far it was. A log rebuilt from memory at tax time is exactly the kind that fails an audit.
Keep the log without thinking about it
MilePal records your drives on your phone and lets you sort them into business and personal as you go, so the total is ready when you file.
A worked example for 2026
Say you drove 6,200 business miles in 2026: 2,600 from January through June and 3,600 from July through December. The business rate is 72.5 cents a mile for the first half of the year and 76 cents from July 1, so the two halves are figured separately.
2,600 miles x $0.725 = $1,885
3,600 miles x $0.76 = $2,736
Standard mileage deduction: $4,621, plus any business parking and tolls
Standard rate or actual expenses
You can deduct either the standard mileage rate or your actual car costs, such as gas, repairs, insurance and depreciation, times your business-use share. To use the standard rate for a car you own, you have to choose it in the first year the car is used in your business. The standard rate is also not allowed if you run five or more cars at the same time. Actual expenses need receipts for everything, plus the mileage log to show the business share.
Common mistakes
Counting the drive from home to your regular workplace. That is commuting.
Adding gas or oil changes on top of the standard rate. They are already inside it.
Using one rate for the whole year when the rate changed mid-year.
Rebuilding the log from a calendar in April instead of recording trips as they happen.