The government mileage rate is a per-mile amount set by the IRS that determines how much you can deduct (or be reimbursed) when you use your personal vehicle for business, medical, charitable, or military moving purposes. For 2026, the IRS business standard mileage rate is 72.5 cents per mile. A separate but related rate, set by the General Services Administration, governs what federal employees receive when they drive their own cars for work travel.
2026 IRS Standard Mileage Rates
The IRS adjusts its standard mileage rates annually based on a study of the fixed and variable costs of operating a vehicle. Beginning January 1, 2026, the rates are:
- Business use: 72.5 cents per mile, up 2.5 cents from 2025
- Medical purposes: 20.5 cents per mile
- Military moving: 20.5 cents per mile (available only to qualifying active-duty members of the Armed Forces and certain members of the intelligence community)
- Charitable driving: 14 cents per mile
The business rate is the one most people search for. If you’re self-employed, a freelancer, or a gig worker, this is the rate you’d use to calculate your vehicle deduction on your tax return. For the 2025 tax year (the return you file in early 2026), the business rate was 70 cents per mile, medical was 21 cents, and military moving was 21 cents. The charitable rate has been fixed at 14 cents by statute and rarely changes.
What the Rate Actually Covers
The standard mileage rate is meant to bundle all the costs of owning and operating a vehicle into one simple number. Instead of tracking every receipt for gas, oil changes, tire replacements, insurance premiums, registration fees, and depreciation, you just multiply your qualifying miles by the rate. That single calculation replaces itemizing dozens of individual expenses.
This is why the business rate (72.5 cents) is so much higher than the medical or charitable rates. The business rate accounts for the full cost of vehicle ownership, including depreciation, which is the gradual loss of your car’s value over time. The medical and moving rates reflect only variable operating costs like fuel and maintenance. The charitable rate covers even less and is set by Congress rather than calculated annually.
Who Can Use the Standard Mileage Rate
Self-employed individuals and independent contractors are the primary users. If you drive your own car to meet clients, deliver goods, or travel between work locations, you can deduct those miles at the standard rate. Employees of private companies generally cannot deduct unreimbursed vehicle expenses on their federal return under current tax law, though their employers may choose to reimburse them at the IRS rate.
You cannot use the standard mileage rate for commuting. Driving from your home to your regular workplace is a personal expense, not a deductible business trip. However, if you work from a home office that qualifies as your principal place of business, trips from that home office to client sites or other work locations can count as business miles.
Standard Mileage Rate vs. Actual Expenses
You have two options for deducting vehicle costs on your taxes: the standard mileage rate or the actual expense method. With actual expenses, you track every cost of operating the vehicle, including gas, oil, repairs, tires, insurance, registration, licenses, and depreciation or lease payments. You then deduct the percentage of those costs that corresponds to your business use. If 60% of your total miles were for business, you deduct 60% of your actual costs.
The standard mileage rate is simpler, which is its main appeal. You log your business miles and multiply by the rate. For someone who drives a fuel-efficient car with low maintenance costs, the standard rate often produces a larger deduction than actual expenses would. For someone driving a newer, more expensive vehicle with high depreciation, the actual expense method might come out ahead.
There’s an important timing restriction. If you want to use the standard mileage rate for a vehicle, you need to choose it in the first year you place the car in service for business. You can switch to actual expenses in later years, but if you start with actual expenses and claim depreciation, you generally can’t switch back to the standard rate for that same vehicle. If you lease rather than own, you must use the standard mileage rate for the entire lease period once you choose it.
GSA Rates for Federal Employees
Federal government employees who use a privately owned vehicle for official travel are reimbursed at rates set by the General Services Administration, not the IRS. These rates are close to the IRS rate but not identical. As of January 1, 2025, the GSA reimbursement rates are:
- Privately owned automobile: 70 cents per mile
- Privately owned motorcycle: 68 cents per mile
- Privately owned airplane: $1.75 per mile
- When a government vehicle is available but you choose to drive your own: 21 cents per mile
That last rate is worth noting. If the government offers you a fleet vehicle and you decline it in favor of your personal car, the reimbursement drops sharply. The higher rate applies only when no government vehicle is reasonably available.
Many private employers also reference the IRS or GSA rates when setting their own mileage reimbursement policies. While they aren’t required to match these rates, using the IRS standard rate keeps the reimbursement tax-free for both the employer and the employee. Reimbursements that exceed the IRS rate may trigger taxable income for the difference.
Keeping a Mileage Log
Whether you’re claiming a tax deduction or requesting reimbursement from an employer, you need a record of your qualifying miles. The IRS expects you to track each trip with enough detail to support your deduction if you’re ever audited. At minimum, your log should include the date of each trip, where you went, the business purpose, and the number of miles driven.
You can keep this log on paper, in a spreadsheet, or through a mileage-tracking app that uses your phone’s GPS. The key is consistency. Reconstructing a year’s worth of driving from memory after the fact is both difficult and unlikely to hold up under IRS scrutiny. Recording each trip as it happens, or at least weekly, produces a far more reliable record. If you drive 15,000 business miles in a year at the 2026 rate, that’s a $10,875 deduction, so the few minutes per trip are well worth the effort.