Notes for people who drive to work.

Mileage · Deductions · The IRS rate · Quarterly taxes · The money side of working for yourself

A plumber holding a length of copper pipe, his hand on a red toolbox.

Trades · 10 min read

Contractor mileage deduction: job sites, supply runs and the van

Drives from the shop to a job site, from site to site and out to a supplier are deductible. The drive from home depends on whether you work from a shop, a home office that qualifies, or neither. The rules, the van, the 2026 rates and a year worked through.

A delivery driver holding two pizza boxes, ready to hand them over.

Delivery · 11 min read

DoorDash mileage deduction: which miles count

The miles from a pickup to the customer and on to the next order count. The drives to your first pickup and home from your last drop-off are a question Publication 463 does not answer for delivery apps. The rules, the 2026 rates, the log to keep and a year worked through.

A consultant leaving his home office with a laptop and a coffee mug.

Home office · 11 min read

Home office and mileage: when the first drive of the day counts

If your home office is your principal place of business, the drive from home to your first client and back from the last one is business mileage. Without one, those two drives are usually commuting. The rule, the test the office has to pass, and a 2026 year worked both ways.

A sales rep holding a small green logbook and a pencil.

Recordkeeping · 10 min read

How to track mileage for taxes: app, spreadsheet or paper

A notebook, a spreadsheet and an app all count as a mileage log. The rules each one has to meet, what each is good and bad at, and one week of driving kept all three ways.

A rideshare driver holding a glass jar of money set aside for tax, his car key in the other hand.

Estimated taxes · 11 min read

Quarterly estimated taxes for 1099 drivers: the January 15 payment

The last payment for 2026 is due January 15, 2027. Who has to make it, how much avoids the penalty, what it still does if you skipped the first three, and how your business miles change the number.

A real estate agent holding out a ring of house keys, a folder with a listing flyer under her arm.

Real estate · 10 min read

Real estate agent mileage deduction: showings, listings and open houses

Drives to showings, listings and open houses are deductible. The drive to your own office usually is not, and whether the first and last drives of the day count depends on where you work from. The rule, the 2026 rates and a year worked through.

A young delivery courier with an insulated backpack, holding up a tax form.

Independent contractors · 6 min read

What is a 1099 contractor?

If an app or a client pays you without taking any tax out, you are probably a 1099 contractor. What the term means, how to tell, and what it changes at tax time.

A smiling woman with curly silver hair holding a white paper bag.

Standard rate · 7 min read

Medical mileage: when the drive to the doctor counts

Driving to medical care is a medical expense you can deduct. What counts, what a mile is worth in 2026, and why it often saves nothing, because only costs above 7.5% of your income count, and only if you itemize.

A tradesman holding an envelope of receipts and a phone showing his drives.

Schedule C · 8 min read

Car expenses on Schedule C, line by line

Where the cost of a work car goes on Schedule C, what Part IV asks about the car, and how the two ways of figuring the cost compare, with a 2026 example worked to the cent.

A driver with her phone and car key beside two rates: 72.5¢ a mile for business from January 1 to June 30, and 76¢ a mile from July 1.

Standard rate · 7 min read

2026 IRS mileage rates: business, medical, moving and charity

The IRS raised its mileage rates on July 1, so 2026 has two sets. The rate for each purpose and each half of the year, which one a drive gets, what the rate covers, and the rates for earlier years.

A woman filling in a paper mileage log on a clipboard, beside two logged drives and a badge saying 25 drives fit on a page.

Recordkeeping · 6 min read

A mileage log template, and why each column is there

A two-page log to print, and the same columns as a spreadsheet. What each column is for, the rule behind it, how often to fill it in, and how long to keep it.

A U.S. Army soldier holding an envelope marked PCS orders and checking his phone.

Standard rate · 10 min read

Moving on military orders: the drive you can still deduct

Since 2018 almost nobody can deduct a move, but a PCS move still can. Who qualifies, what the drive is worth, what the military's payments take off it, and where it goes on the return.

A contractor with rolled plans under her arm, typing on her phone.

Substantiation · 7 min read

What to write as the business purpose of a drive

A log with dates and miles but no reasons is half a log. Where the IRS asks for a purpose, the one narrow exception, and what a purpose line that holds up looks like.

A man with a small notebook and his car keys, checking a drive on his phone.

Substantiation · 16 min read

What the IRS actually wants in a mileage log

The IRS does not take an estimate for car expenses. What a log has to show for each drive and each year, when it has to be written, what happens to a drive you cannot prove, and how long to keep it.

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