π Mileage Reimbursement Calculator
IRS standard mileage rate times your business miles.
Reimbursement / deduction amount
Estimates for planning only, not financial advice.
Mileage reimbursement is miles times the IRS standard rate, and in the second half of 2026 that rate is 76 cents per business mile after a rare midyear increase from 72.5 cents. Drive 1,250 business miles and the reimbursement is $950.00, tax-free under an accountable plan. This calculator multiplies your miles by the rate and notes the tax treatment for business, medical, and charitable driving.
The rate exists so nobody has to track gas receipts and depreciation separately. It bundles fuel, maintenance, insurance, and depreciation into one number, which is why the log matters more than the receipts: miles are the entire claim.
How to Use This Calculator
Enter business miles and the per-mile rate, then choose the purpose. The calculator shows the reimbursement amount, the monthly equivalent, and the tax treatment.
Enter total business miles for the period from your mileage log.
Confirm the rate: $0.76 for business miles after July 1, 2026, or your employer's plan rate.
Read the amount and tax treatment. For vehicle cost comparisons on the driving itself, our gas trip cost calculator prices the fuel.
2026 IRS Rates
The midyear split is the detail that catches people: miles driven before July 1, 2026 use 72.5 cents, miles after use 76 cents. A full-year log needs the June 30 cutoff for an exact deduction. The charity rate never moves because Congress fixed it at 14 cents by statute.
What the Rate Covers
| Included in the rate | Claim separately |
|---|---|
| Gas and oil | Tolls |
| Maintenance and repairs | Parking fees |
| Insurance | Interest (actual-expense method) |
| Depreciation | |
| Registration and taxes |
Tolls and parking are the easy missed money: they stack on top of the mileage amount, so a road warrior crossing toll bridges should track them separately. For the self-employed, the mileage deduction cuts self-employment tax too, which makes it worth roughly 15 percent more than the same deduction is worth to others.
Worked Example
With the defaults: 1,250 business miles at $0.76 per mile gives 1,250 x 0.76 = $950.00. At the same pace monthly, that is $79.17 a month. A self-employed driver in the 22 percent bracket with 15.3 percent self-employment tax saves roughly 37.3 percent of the deduction's value, about $354, making the real cost of those miles far lower than the gas receipts suggest.
Log Discipline
Record every trip the day it happens: date, destination, purpose, miles. GPS apps do this automatically and export IRS-ready reports; the five minutes of setup beats reconstructing a year from calendar invites. Keep the log three years past the filing date, and separate business from commuting clearly, since the home-to-office leg is the auditor's favorite disallowance.
My rule: the log is the deduction. Perfect driving with no log is worth zero in an audit, while ordinary driving with a clean log sails through. Automate it and never think about it again.
Maximizing Your Mileage Deduction
Employees can no longer deduct unreimbursed mileage since the 2017 tax law suspended it through 2025, with extension debates ongoing, so getting full reimbursement from your employer is the whole game. Track every business mile with an app; manual logs get abandoned by February. Know your company's policy: many reimburse at the full IRS rate, but some pay less, and the gap comes out of your pocket.
Self-employed workers deduct mileage directly on Schedule C, where the standard rate usually beats actual expenses for fuel-efficient cars. Keep a contemporaneous log with dates, destinations, and business purposes; the IRS requires it, and reconstructed logs fail audits. Review the midyear rate announcements, because the IRS raised rates midyear in 2022 and again in 2026, and claiming the higher second-half rate is free money if your records split the year. For trip cost planning, our gas trip cost calculator estimates fuel for any route.
Employer Policies and Negotiation
Many employers reimburse below the IRS rate, pocketing the difference as savings. If yours pays 50 cents against the 76-cent federal rate, you are subsidizing your employer's business travel. Raise it with data: show your actual per-mile costs from fuel, insurance, depreciation, and maintenance, which for most cars exceed the IRS rate. Companies competing for talent often match the full rate once asked.
Know what counts as business mileage. Commuting from home to a regular workplace never qualifies, but travel between job sites, to client meetings, and to temporary work locations does. A home office that qualifies as your principal place of business converts trips to clients into deductible business miles. Document the business purpose for every trip; "business" alone fails audits. For the fuel portion of your costs, our gas trip cost calculator isolates it precisely.
Estimates for planning only, not financial advice.Frequently Asked Questions
What is the IRS mileage rate for 2026?
The IRS set 72.5 cents per mile for business use from January through June 2026, then raised it midyear to 76 cents per mile effective July 1, 2026, a rare off-cycle increase driven by fuel prices. Medical and moving mileage went to 23.5 cents, while charity stayed at 14 cents by statute. The calculator defaults to the current 76-cent business rate.
How do you calculate mileage reimbursement?
Multiply business miles by the standard rate: 1,250 miles at $0.76 is $950.00. Employers can reimburse up to the IRS rate tax-free under an accountable plan. Self-employed workers deduct the same amount on Schedule C instead of tracking actual vehicle expenses.
What counts as business miles?
Driving between work locations, to client sites, to temporary workplaces, and for business errands. Commuting from home to a regular workplace does not count, even in a personal car. The first and last trip of the day need care: home-to-client directly can count when the client site is temporary.
Standard mileage rate or actual expenses: which is better?
The standard rate wins for fuel-efficient cars with low operating costs; actual expenses win for expensive vehicles with high depreciation, insurance, and repairs. You can switch methods year to year with restrictions: once you use actual expenses with accelerated depreciation, you generally cannot switch back to standard for that car.
Do I need a mileage log?
Yes, absolutely. The IRS requires contemporaneous records: date, destination, business purpose, and miles for each trip. Apps that track GPS automatically satisfy this; a notebook works too. Estimates reconstructed at tax time routinely fail audits.
Can employees deduct unreimbursed mileage?
Not since 2018. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended the miscellaneous itemized deduction for unreimbursed employee expenses through 2025, and its status depends on current law. Employees should seek employer reimbursement under an accountable plan instead, which remains tax-free.
How does mileage reimbursement affect taxes?
Reimbursements at or below the IRS rate under an accountable plan are tax-free to the employee and deductible to the employer. Amounts above the rate are wages. For the self-employed, the mileage deduction reduces both income tax and self-employment tax, making it one of the most valuable deductions available.
What is the medical mileage rate?
23.5 cents per mile for the second half of 2026, deductible as part of medical expenses if you itemize and total medical costs exceed 7.5 percent of AGI. It covers trips for medical care for yourself, your spouse, and dependents.
Does the mileage rate cover tolls and parking?
No, those are separate. Tolls and parking for business purposes are deductible or reimbursable in addition to the mileage rate. The standard rate covers gas, maintenance, insurance, depreciation, and registration, but not tolls, parking, or interest on the car loan in most treatments.
Why did the IRS raise the rate midyear in 2026?
Surging fuel prices made the original 72.5-cent rate inadequate, and the IRS made a rare midyear adjustment to 76 cents effective July 1. Midyear changes are uncommon, the previous one was 2022, and they require splitting the year's mileage at June 30 for exact deductions.