IRS Mileage Deduction Calculator — guide

The IRS Mileage Deduction Calculator multiplies your business miles by the IRS standard mileage rate in effect for the date or date range you enter. When your drive period spans a mid-year rate change — such as the 2026 business rate adjustment from $0.725 to $0.76 per mile on 1 July 2026 — the tool splits your miles proportionally across each rate period and totals the result.

The output is an estimated standard mileage deduction — the dollar amount you could potentially claim if you use the standard mileage method for that period. It is not a filed deduction and not tax advice.

Self-employed individuals, freelancers, and independent contractors who drive for clients or job sites and want to estimate their annual mileage deduction before filing.

Employees who use a personal vehicle for work and want to understand the IRS reference value of their business mileage.

Anyone comparing the standard mileage method against actual vehicle expenses (see the Mileage vs. Actual Expenses tool).

Required — Business miles: the number of miles driven for business purposes during the period.

Required — Date or date range: the start and end dates of the period. The tool uses this to look up the correct IRS rate for each applicable period.

Optional — Purpose: some configurations allow selecting business, charity, or medical/moving to apply the corresponding IRS rate. Business is the default.

For a single rate period (e.g. all miles in 2025 at $0.70/mile), the calculation is: miles × rate = estimated deduction.

When a date range spans a rate-period boundary, the tool divides total miles proportionally by the number of days in each period, calculates each segment separately, and sums the results.

IRS rates used by the tool: 2024 business $0.67/mile (IR-2023-239); 2025 business $0.70/mile (IR-2024-312); 2026 H1 (1 Jan–30 Jun) $0.725/mile (IR-2025-128); 2026 H2 (1 Jul–31 Dec) $0.76/mile (IR-2026-29). The IRS publishes rates at irs.gov; always verify before filing.

The results panel shows the estimated deduction broken down by rate period: the rate applied, the miles allocated, and the dollar subtotal for each period. A grand total appears at the bottom.

If your entire date range falls within a single rate period, only one row appears. The result is an estimate; actual deductibility depends on your filing status, income, and whether you qualify to use the standard mileage method.

Use the download button to export a CSV summary that includes all input values (miles, date range, purpose) and the full breakdown by rate period. Open it in any spreadsheet application to review or share with an accountant.

Scenario: 10,000 business miles driven evenly across all of 2026.

Jan 1 – Jun 30 (181 days of 365): approximately 4,959 miles × $0.725 = $3,595.28.

Jul 1 – Dec 31 (184 days of 365): approximately 5,041 miles × $0.76 = $3,831.16.

Total estimated deduction: $7,426.44.

For comparison, the same 10,000 miles entirely in 2025 would yield 10,000 × $0.70 = $7,000.00.

The tool assumes all miles entered are qualifying business miles. It does not distinguish commuting miles (generally not deductible) from other business travel.

Standard mileage and actual expense methods cannot both be used for the same vehicle in the same year, and switching between methods has restrictions.

The tool covers IRS rates for 2024–2026. Miles driven outside these years will not return a result.

Results are estimates. The IRS may publish revised or corrected rates; always check irs.gov.

The calculator is useful for estimates and year-end reviews, but MileLedger's phone app creates an IRS-ready mileage log automatically as you drive — capturing every business trip with date, distance, and location. At tax time you export rather than reconstruct.

Learn more at /features/mileage-tracking.