IRS Mileage Rate 2026: What Every Self-Employed Worker Needs to Know

The IRS has announced the 2026 standard mileage rates, and there's good news for self-employed workers, freelancers, and small business owners: the business mileage rate has increased to 72.5 cents per mile, up from 70 cents in 2025.

This might seem like a small bump, but for anyone who drives regularly for work — delivery drivers, real estate agents, lawn care operators, sales reps, consultants — it adds up to hundreds or even thousands of dollars in additional deductions.

2026 IRS Standard Mileage Rates

Purpose	2026 Rate	2025 Rate	Change
Business	72.5¢/mile	70¢/mile	+2.5¢
Medical/Moving	20.5¢/mile	21¢/mile	-0.5¢
Charity	14¢/mile	14¢/mile	No change

What Counts as a Business Mile?

The IRS considers a business mile any driving you do for work that isn't your regular commute. This includes:

• Driving between job sites — a lawn care operator going from one yard to the next
• Meeting clients — a real estate agent showing properties
• Making deliveries — DoorDash, Instacart, Amazon Flex routes
• Running business errands — picking up supplies, going to the bank, post office
• Travel to temporary work locations — anywhere that isn't your primary office

Your commute from home to your regular office does not qualify. But if your home IS your office (common for freelancers), then every business trip from home counts.

How Much Can You Actually Save?

Let's run the numbers for common self-employed scenarios:

Scenario	Daily Miles	Days/Year	Annual Miles	Deduction at 72.5¢
Lawn care (5 yards/day)	30	120	3,600	$2,610
Real estate agent	45	240	10,800	$7,830
Delivery driver	80	200	16,000	$11,600
Sales professional	50	220	11,000	$7,975
Freelance consultant	20	150	3,000	$2,175

These deductions come directly off your taxable income on Schedule C. If you're in the 22% tax bracket, a $7,830 deduction saves you $1,723 in actual taxes.

Standard Mileage Rate vs. Actual Expense Method

You have two options for deducting vehicle expenses:

1. Standard Mileage Rate (72.5¢/mile) — Simple. Just track your miles. This is what most self-employed people use because it's easier and often results in a larger deduction.
2. Actual Expense Method — Track every vehicle cost (gas, insurance, repairs, depreciation, registration) and deduct the business-use percentage. More complex but sometimes better for expensive vehicles.

Important: You must choose one method for each vehicle. If you use the standard mileage rate in the first year you use a vehicle for business, you can switch to actual expenses later. But if you start with actual expenses, you're locked in for that vehicle.

What Records Does the IRS Require?

The IRS requires a contemporaneous mileage log — meaning you need to record trips at or near the time they happen. For each trip, you should document:

• Date of the trip
• Destination (or route)
• Business purpose
• Miles driven

A glove-compartment notebook technically works, but it's 2026 — GPS-based mileage tracking is more accurate, harder to dispute in an audit, and takes zero effort.

How GPS Mileage Tracking Works in SimplyExpensed

SimplyExpensed's GPS Trip Tracker eliminates manual mileage logging entirely:

1. Tap "Start Trip" when you leave
2. Drive normally — GPS records your route every 15 seconds
3. Tap "End Trip" when you arrive

The app automatically:

• Calculates exact driving distance from your GPS breadcrumb trail
• Reverse-geocodes your start and end points to real addresses
• Applies the 2026 IRS rate (72.5¢ for business)
• Calculates your deduction
• Stores an interactive route map for audit defense

This works even for loop routes — if you drive 100 miles visiting 8 clients but end up back where you started, every mile is captured via the waypoint trail.

The Bottom Line

At 72.5 cents per mile, every business trip you fail to log is money left on the table. A 10-mile round trip to meet a client? That's $7.25 in deductions — gone if you don't track it.

Over a year, those "small" trips compound into thousands of dollars. The only question is whether you're capturing them or losing them.

Start tracking free with SimplyExpensed →