Current Mileage Rates for the US (2026)
Key Points
For the 2026 tax year, government mileage rates in the US are set at 72.5 cents for business, 20.5 cents for medical/military move, and 14 cents for charity-related mileage.
Self-employed?
Use the IRS rates to calculate business mileage deductions and lower your taxable income.
Pay employees for mileage?
Use these rates as a guideline for reimbursing drivers. Reimbursements at or below the government mileage rates are tax-free.
Government mileage rates for 2026 tax year
Government mileage rates are your ticket to tax-savings, if you qualify. The IRS releases new rates each year (usually in Dec of the previous year).
Here are the latest federal rates:
Business mileage: 72.5 cents per mile
Medical/military move mileage: 20.5 cents per mile
Charity-related mileage: 14 cents per mile
What are government mileage rates?
Government mileage rates, also called standard mileage rates, federal mileage rates, or IRS rates, are a form of tax relief for people with eligible driving expenses.
Tax-payers can deduct business mileage on taxes if they're self-employed, have high medical expenses, or drive for a charity. Certain military members and intelligence personnel relocating due to orders can also deduct moving mileage.
Deducting mileage expenses lowers taxable income, so you end up paying less tax, which is of course, welcome news to most people.
Deducting business mileage for self-employed
What do real estate agents, mobile dog groomers, and delivery drivers have in common? They're often self-employed and drive for work.
If you fit into that Venn diagram, use government mileage rates to get business mileage deductions at $0.725/mile.
Deducting medical and charity mileage
If you itemize deductions, you may deduct mileage related to:
- Doctor visits (if your medical expenses for that year are more than 7.5% of your adjusted gross income) at $0.205/mile
- Driving for a non-profit at $0.14/mile
- A military/intelligence move on orders at $0.205/mile
Using government rates to reimburse employees
As long as you reimburse your drivers at or below the latest IRS business mileage rate ($0.725), the reimbursements are tax-free. You can always reimburse drivers more, but any amount above the most recent rate will need to be taxed like regular income.
Figuring out mileage deductions with federal rates
To calculate your deduction (or reimbursement amount) simply multiply the number of eligible miles by the rate for that tax year.
Here's an example with business mileage.
Let's say you're a welder, working on different construction sites throughout the year. You drive to these sites in your own van. You tracked 2,000 business miles and now it's time to reap the rewards of all that diligent mileage keeping.
2,000 mi x $0.725 (the latest business mileage rate) = $1,450
This means you can claim a $1,450 business mileage deduction on your taxes, which means the IRS can now tax $1,450 less of your money.
The best way to track mileage for tax deductions
Adding in personal miles and multiplying them by the federal mileage rates will give you the wrong deduction number, which can lead to trouble down the line.
Avoid costly and stressful audits and IRS penalties by tracking and sorting deductible miles automatically with MileIQ.
MileIQ is an app and reporting platform for self-employed people, businesses, and anyone else who needs accurate, simple mileage tracking.
- Set-it-and-forget it: Download MileIQ, add an odometer reading, and you're good to go. There are no mileage logs to update, just get in the car and go. All your drives are tracked automatically.
- Separate business & personal mileage: Classify a drive as business or personal with a swipe or set up automations and custom purposes for other drive types.
- Easy, tax-compliant reporting: Mileage reports are automatically generated with a tap and calculate the mileage deduction amount for you (no extra math required).
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