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.
The IRS sets its standard mileage rates once a year, and in 2026 it changed them halfway through. Notice 2026-10 put the business rate at 72.5¢ a mile from January 1. Announcement 2026-11 raised it to 76¢ from July 1, and the medical and moving rate with it, because of “recent increases in the price of fuel.” The charity rate did not move. This piece gives each rate, which one applies to a drive, and what the rate does and does not cover. The sources are listed at the end.
The 2026 rates
| Purpose | January 1 – June 30 | From July 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Business | 72.5¢ a mile | 76¢ a mile |
| Medical | 20.5¢ a mile | 23.5¢ a mile |
| Military moving | 20.5¢ a mile | 23.5¢ a mile |
| Charity | 14¢ a mile | 14¢ a mile |
Medical and moving share one rate. The notice sets a single rate for medical care and for a move deductible under § 217(g), and the announcement lists them on one line: “Medical and moving 23.5 cents per mile”.
The charity rate is set differently. The other rates come from a yearly study of the fixed and variable costs of running a car, done for the IRS by an independent contractor. The charity rate is in the tax code: section 170(i) says “the standard mileage rate shall be 14 cents per mile”.
Which rate a drive gets
The date of the drive decides it. The new rates apply to expenses “paid or incurred for business, medical, or moving expense purposes on or after July 1, 2026”, and the rates in Notice 2026-10 to those before. A business drive on June 30 is priced at 72.5¢ a mile, and one on July 1 at 76¢.
So a 2026 total is worked in two halves. Say you drove 12,000 business miles in 2026, 5,200 of them by June 30 and 6,800 from July 1:
| Period | Business miles | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 1 – June 30 | 5,200 | 72.5¢ | $3,770 |
| July 1 – December 31 | 6,800 | 76¢ | $5,168 |
| The year | 12,000 | $8,938 |
Business parking and tolls are added at what you paid. One rate for the whole year gets it wrong either way: 12,000 × 72.5¢ is $8,700, which is $238 short, and 12,000 × 76¢ is $9,120, which is $182 too much. Medical and moving miles split on the same date, at 20.5¢ and 23.5¢. Charity miles are 14¢ all year.
Employers who reimburse at the IRS rate split on the same date: 76¢ is for allowances paid on or after July 1 for driving done on or after July 1.
The IRS has changed the rates mid-year before, in 2011 and in 2022, both times from July 1.
Who can use the business rate
If you are self-employed, a freelancer or a gig driver, you deduct business miles on Schedule C, at the business rate or at what the car actually cost.
Most employees cannot deduct their mileage. Notice 2026-10 says the 2025 tax law “made permanent the disallowance” of miscellaneous itemized deductions, “including unreimbursed employee travel expenses”. The notice names the employees who still can, as an adjustment to income: Armed Forces reservists, fee-basis state or local officials, certain performing artists, and eligible educators, up to a dollar limit.
Publication 463 sets conditions on the car:
- Five or more cars at once rule it out. “If you own or lease five or more cars that are used for business at the same time, you can’t use the standard mileage rate for the business use of any car.” Five cars you alternate between, one at a time, do not count.
- Choose it in the first year. For a car you own, you have to use the rate in the first year the car is available for use in your business; in later years you can choose either the rate or actual costs. For a leased car, you have to use it for the whole lease.
- Not after faster depreciation. You cannot use it for a car you have depreciated under MACRS or any method other than straight line, or claimed a section 179 deduction or the special depreciation allowance on.
- A car for hire is allowed. “You can elect to use the standard mileage rate if you used a car for hire (such as a taxi)”, unless one of the rules above applies.
What the rate covers, and what goes on top
The rate stands in for the cost of running the car. In a year you use it, Publication 463 says: “You can’t deduct depreciation, lease payments, maintenance and repairs, gasoline (including gasoline taxes), oil, insurance, or vehicle registration fees.”
Added on top, at what you paid:
- Business parking and tolls. Parking at your place of work is a commuting cost, and is not deductible.
- If you are self-employed, the business share of the interest on a car loan, and of state and local personal property tax on the car.
Part of the rate is depreciation. Each business mile at the standard rate lowers the car’s basis by a set amount, though not below zero, which matters when you sell the car or switch it to actual costs. Notice 2026-10 sets the amount at 35¢ a mile for 2026. The July announcement changed only the rates (“All other provisions of Notice 2026-10 remain in effect”), so it is 35¢ all year. It was 33¢ for 2025, 30¢ for 2024 and 28¢ for 2023.
Medical, moving and charity
Medical. It covers driving “primarily for and essential to medical care”, including a parent who has to go with a child who needs care. Publication 502 allows the medical rate or your actual gas and oil, plus parking and tolls, but not depreciation, insurance, general repair or maintenance. It is a medical expense on Schedule A: it counts only if you itemize, and only the part of your medical expenses above 7.5% of your adjusted gross income is deductible.
Moving. It is only for members of the Armed Forces on active duty who move under a permanent change of station order, and from 2026 certain members of the intelligence community who relocate for a new assignment. For everyone else, the notice says, the 2025 law made the end of the moving deduction permanent. Moving on military orders covers who qualifies, what the drive is worth, and what the military’s payments take off it.
Charity. It covers driving to give your services to a qualified organization, for costs no one pays you back. Publication 526 allows 14¢ a mile or your actual gas and oil, plus parking and tolls, but not repairs, maintenance, depreciation, registration fees, tires or insurance. It asks for “reliable written records”, and with the standard rate they must show the miles.
Rates for earlier years
| Period | Business | Medical and moving | Charity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 70¢ | 21¢ | 14¢ |
| 2024 | 67¢ | 21¢ | 14¢ |
| 2023 | 65.5¢ | 22¢ | 14¢ |
| July 1 – December 31, 2022 | 62.5¢ | 22¢ | 14¢ |
| January 1 – June 30, 2022 | 58.5¢ | 18¢ | 14¢ |
Each year’s rates are in that year’s notice: Notice 2025-5, Notice 2024-08, Notice 2023-03 and Notice 2022-03, with Announcement 2022-13 for the second half of 2022. The IRS page Standard mileage rates lists every period back to 2011.
In odo
The app prices each drive at the IRS rate in force on the day it was driven, so a 2026 year is worked in its two halves with nothing to set. What if the rate changed mid-year? shows where to see the rates in the app. A business rate of your own, if you set one, replaces the IRS rate on every drive, with no split.
The report lists every rate that applied in its period, with its dates. A report of all drives for 2026 has two lines for business, two for Medical & moving, which share a row, and one for charity. What the report contains describes the rest.
The app records the date and the miles of each drive it detects, so every drive carries the date that decides its rate.
The free plan covers 35 drives a month, and Pro removes the limit.
The bottom line
For 2026, a business mile is 72.5¢ through June 30 and 76¢ from July 1. Medical and military moving miles are 20.5¢, then 23.5¢. Charity miles are 14¢ all year, because the tax code fixes that rate. Each drive takes the rate for its date, so the year is totaled in two halves, with business parking and tolls added at what you paid. What the IRS actually wants in a mileage log covers the record each of those miles needs.
Sources
- IRS, Notice 2026-10, 2026-4 I.R.B. 378: section 2 (the annual study, and the charity rate set by § 170(i)), section 3 (the 2026 rates, unreimbursed employee expenses, and moving), section 4 (the depreciation part of the business rate, 2022–2026).
- IRS, Announcement 2026-11, I.R.B. 2026-29, page 49 (July 13, 2026): the rates from July 1, 2026.
- IRS, Standard mileage rates: the rates for every period since 2011.
- IRS, Notice 2025-5, Notice 2024-08, Notice 2023-03, Notice 2022-03 and Announcement 2022-13: the rates for 2022 to 2025.
- IRS, Publication 463: Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses (2025): chapter 4, Standard Mileage Rate (choosing it, when it is not allowed, five or more cars, a car for hire, interest, personal property taxes, parking fees and tolls), and Depreciation adjustment when you used the standard mileage rate.
- IRS, Publication 502: Medical and Dental Expenses (2025): Transportation and Car expenses, and the 7.5% limit.
- IRS, Publication 526: Charitable Contributions (2025): Car expenses, under Out-of-Pocket Expenses in Giving Services and under Substantiation Requirements.
- 26 U.S. Code § 170(i): the charity rate.
This article is general information, not tax advice. Tax situations vary — check with a qualified professional before you file.