IRS Standard Mileage Rate

The IRS standard mileage rate is a single per-mile figure you can multiply by your business miles to compute your vehicle deduction — in lieu of tracking every receipt for gas, oil, insurance, and depreciation.

For 2026 (Notice 2026-10, issued December 29, 2025):

• Business: 72.5¢ per mile (up 2.5¢ from 2025’s 70¢)
• Medical and moving: 20.5¢ per mile (down 0.5¢)
• Charitable: 14¢ per mile, fixed by statute at IRC §170(i)

The business rate is set each year by the IRS based on “an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile” (IRS news release, December 29, 2025). The framework lives in Rev. Proc. 2019-46.

What the business rate already includes. The rate bundles gas, oil, insurance, registration, repairs, maintenance, tires, and depreciation. Of the 72.5¢ in 2026, 35¢ per mile is treated as depreciation (Notice 2026-10 §4) — meaning every business mile reduces your vehicle’s tax basis by that amount, which matters when you eventually sell the car.

What it does not include. Parking fees, tolls, and the business portion of personal property tax are deductible separately. Loan interest on the vehicle is also separately deductible for the business-use portion (self-employed).

The four-rate landscape isn’t the whole story. OBBBA §70110 made the disallowance of miscellaneous itemized deductions permanent, so W-2 employees still cannot deduct unreimbursed business mileage at any rate (except the four narrow above-the-line categories: reservists, fee-basis state-local officials, qualified performing artists, and eligible K-12 educators, the last only up to the $300 educator limit).

Worked example. Lisa drives 30,000 business miles for her DoorDash route in 2026. Her business mileage deduction is 30,000 × $0.725 = $21,750, claimed on Schedule C line 9. She also tracked 400 miles to client medical appointments for her father (whom she claims as a dependent): 400 × $0.205 = $82, available as an itemized medical deduction subject to the 7.5%-of-AGI floor under IRC §213.