Business Mileage Deduction Calculator

Business miles times the rate for when you drove them: $0.725 for miles driven January 1 to June 30, 2026 and $0.76 from July 1 (Announcement 2026-11). At $0.725, 1,000 miles is $725, 5,000 miles is $3,625 and 10,000 miles is $7,250; at $0.76 the same miles are $760, $3,800 and $7,600. Total each half of the year separately.

Self-employed people, including freelancers, independent contractors and gig drivers, deduct business miles as a business expense, usually on Schedule C. Most W-2 employees cannot deduct unreimbursed business mileage on their federal return under current law; the exceptions are narrow, such as Armed Forces reservists and certain educator expenses. If your employer pays you per mile, use the mileage reimbursement calculator instead.

Driving to meet clients, picking up supplies, going to the bank for the business, traveling between two work locations, and driving to a temporary job site. Driving between home and your regular workplace is commuting and does not count. If your home is your principal place of business, trips from home to clients and other work locations are business miles.

Figure both. The standard rate replaces your actual car costs: 10,000 business miles at $0.725 is $7,250. Under the actual expense method you add up gas, oil, repairs, tires, insurance, registration and depreciation or lease payments, then multiply by your business use share. For example, $12,000 of total car costs on a car driven 15,000 miles, 10,000 of them for business, gives $12,000 x 10,000 / 15,000 = $8,000.

For a car you own, you must use the standard mileage rate in the first year the car is used for business if you ever want to use it; in later years you can choose either method. If you start with actual expenses, you cannot switch to the standard rate for that car later. For a leased car, choosing the standard rate locks it in for the whole lease, including renewals. You cannot use the standard rate at all if you run five or more cars at the same time.

Not gas: the standard rate already covers fuel, oil, repairs, insurance and depreciation, so adding gas receipts would count those costs twice. Business parking fees and tolls are different. You deduct them in addition to the standard mileage amount.

Use the rate in effect when the miles were driven, not when you file. Miles driven in 2025 use $0.70 per mile, so 5,000 of them are worth $3,500 even if you file in 2026. In 2026 the rate changed on July 1, from $0.725 to $0.76, so record the date of every trip.