Mileage Reimbursement Calculator

Mileage reimbursement equals miles driven times the IRS standard rate. For miles driven from July 1, 2026 the business rate is 76 cents per mile (72.5 cents from January 1 to June 30), so 500 business miles is 500 × $0.76 = $380, with no gas or repair receipts needed. This mileage reimbursement calculator applies the IRS rate for the period you drove (76¢ business, 23.5¢ medical/moving and 14¢ charitable for the second half of 2026) and compares all three side by side.

Reimbursement is only one piece of the picture. Use the Income Tax Calculator for your federal bill, the Paycheck Calculator for take-home pay after FICA, the Salary Calculator to convert pay across pay periods, and the Tax Refund Calculator to estimate a refund; this page is the one that answers "how much is my driving worth?"

How mileage reimbursement is calculated

The math is deliberately simple. You multiply the miles you drove by the per-mile rate for that purpose:

So 1,200 business miles driven after July 1, 2026 is 1,200 × $0.76 = $912. The standard mileage rate is designed to bundle every cost of running your car (fuel, oil, maintenance, tires, insurance, registration and depreciation) into one number, which is why you do not submit individual receipts when you use it.

The 2026 IRS standard mileage rates

The IRS usually publishes the standard mileage rates in December for the year ahead, and occasionally changes them mid-year. That happened in 2026: Announcement 2026-11 raised the business and medical/moving rates from July 1 because of higher fuel prices. For 2026 the rates are:

• Business: driving for work. The rate depends on when you drove: 72.5¢ before July 1, 2026 and 76¢ after.
• Medical & moving: travel for medical care, and moving for active-duty members of the armed forces (and, from 2026, certain members of the intelligence community). The rate is 20.5¢ before July 1, 2026 and 23.5¢ after.
• Charitable: driving in service of a qualified charity, at 14¢ per mile. This rate is fixed by statute.

Because the charitable rate is set by law rather than recalculated from driving costs, it has stayed at 14 cents for years while the business rate has climbed with fuel and vehicle prices. Reimbursements and deductions follow the date the miles were driven: miles before July 1, 2026 use the January rates even if you are reimbursed later.

Mileage reimbursement by miles driven and purpose (2026 rates)

Find your mileage in the left column and read across to the rate that applies. Every figure is that many miles multiplied by the 2026 IRS rate, so you can size a reimbursement or Schedule C deduction at a glance.

For a mileage count not shown, just multiply by the rate: e.g. 3,200 business miles driven after July 1, 2026 is 3,200 × $0.76 = $2,432.

How to use this calculator

You only need two numbers to get an answer. Work through the fields in order:

1. Miles driven: enter the total qualifying miles from your log. Use the quick buttons (100, 500, 1,000, 5,000) for a fast estimate.
2. When you drove: pick July 1 to December 31, 2026, January 1 to June 30, 2026, or 2025. If your log spans July 1, 2026, run the two parts separately.
3. Purpose: choose business, medical/moving, or charitable; the calculator selects the matching IRS rate automatically.
4. Custom rate (optional): tick the box if your employer reimburses at a rate other than the IRS standard, then enter the cents-per-mile figure. The result shows how it compares to the IRS amount and flags any taxable excess.

The large dollar figure at the top is your total reimbursement. Below it, a comparison table shows what the same miles are worth at all three IRS rates for the period you picked.

Who this calculator is for

• Employees submitting a mileage expense report and checking the amount before they file it.
• Employers and bookkeepers reimbursing staff at the IRS rate and needing a quick, defensible number.
• Self-employed and gig workers (rideshare, delivery, contractors) estimating their Schedule C mileage deduction.
• Volunteers tracking charitable driving for an itemized deduction.
• Anyone deciding between the standard rate and the actual-expense method.

Worked example: a sales rep's month

Suppose a sales rep logs 1,450 business miles in September 2026 visiting clients (commuting from home to the office does not count). At 76¢/mile that is 1,450 × $0.76 = $1,102 in reimbursement. If the same person also drove 120 miles for medical appointments and 60 miles delivering for a charity that month, each block is valued at its own rate. The purposes never mix rates; here is the log totaled step by step:

Scenario: custom employer rate above the IRS rate

Say your company reimburses 80¢ per mile for business driving and you logged 1,000 miles after July 1, 2026. Your check is 1,000 × $0.80 = $800. The IRS standard amount would be 1,000 × $0.76 = $760, so $40 of your reimbursement is paid above the IRS rate. Under IRS rules, that $40 excess is generally treated as taxable wages unless you substantiate higher actual costs. This calculator flags that excess automatically when you enter a custom rate.

Custom employer rate vs. the IRS rate: what it gains or costs you

This quick-reference sizes a non-IRS reimbursement per 1,000 business miles driven after July 1, 2026 against the IRS amount of $760. Rates at or below 76¢ are fully tax-free under an accountable plan; only the amount paid above 76¢ is generally taxable wages. For miles driven earlier in 2026, compare against 72.5¢ ($725) instead.

Scenario: choosing the standard rate vs. actual expenses

A contractor drives 10,000 business miles in 2026, half before July 1 and half after. At the standard rates that is 5,000 × $0.725 + 5,000 × $0.76 = $7,425. If her real costs (gas, insurance, repairs, depreciation) for the business share of the car come to $6,000, the standard rate wins. If she drives an expensive truck with heavy repair bills totaling $9,000 of business-use costs, the actual-expense method wins. The standard rate is simpler and usually better for fuel-efficient, lower-cost vehicles.

Key mileage terms explained

• Standard mileage rate: the per-mile figure the IRS sets that bundles all vehicle operating costs into one number.
• Accountable plan: an employer reimbursement arrangement where you substantiate the miles; payments under it at or below the IRS rate are not taxable.
• Commuting miles: home-to-work driving, which is personal and never reimbursable at the business rate.
• Actual-expense method: deducting the business share of real vehicle costs instead of using the standard rate.
• Contemporaneous log: a mileage record kept at or near the time of each trip, showing date, destination, purpose and miles.

What changes the result the most

• Miles driven: the direct multiplier; every extra qualifying mile adds the per-mile rate.
• Purpose: business (76¢) pays more than five times the charitable rate (14¢) for the same distance.
• Date driven: the rate changes at least annually, and in 2026 it changed on July 1; use the rate for the period you drove the miles.
• Custom employer rate: reimbursing above the IRS rate can create taxable wages.

Tips to maximize a defensible reimbursement

• Log every trip as it happens: date, start and end points, purpose and miles. Reconstructed logs fare poorly under audit.
• Separate parking and tolls: these are reimbursable on top of the mileage rate, so list them separately.
• Exclude your commute: only count miles beyond regular home-to-work travel.
• Split 2026 at July 1: miles before the change use 72.5¢, miles after use 76¢.
• Pick a method early: if you want the standard rate for business, you generally must choose it the first year the car is in service.

How the IRS business mileage rate has changed by year

The business standard mileage rate moves with the cost of owning and operating a vehicle, so it is worth checking the rate that matched the year you actually drove. If you are amending a prior-year expense report or filing back taxes, do not apply the 2026 figure to 2024 miles. Recent business rates have been:

• 2026: 72.5¢ (Jan to Jun) then 76¢ (Jul to Dec): the IRS raised the rate on July 1, 2026 because of higher fuel prices.
• 2025: 70¢ per mile, up 3 cents from 2024.
• 2024: 67¢ per mile, up 1.5 cents from the prior year.
• 2023: 65.5¢ per mile, a full-year rate after a mid-2022 increase.
• 2022: 58.5¢ (Jan to Jun) then 62.5¢ (Jul to Dec): another mid-year increase driven by fuel prices.

The 14¢ charitable rate stayed flat across every one of those years because Congress, not the IRS, sets it. The medical and moving rate, by contrast, tracks variable operating costs and has ranged from 16¢ (2021) to 23.5¢ (second half of 2026). When you submit a reimbursement that spans a rate change, split the miles by the date driven and apply each period's rate to the matching block of miles.

Self-employed and gig drivers: turning miles into a deduction

For a sole proprietor, rideshare driver, or delivery contractor, business mileage is not "reimbursed"; it is deducted on Schedule C, which lowers both your income tax and your self-employment tax. The mechanics still start with this calculator: total your qualifying business miles for each rate period, multiply by the rate, and that dollar figure is the deduction. A driver who logs 18,000 business miles in 2026, 9,000 before July 1 and 9,000 after, deducts 9,000 × $0.725 + 9,000 × $0.76 = $13,365 against gross earnings before tax is figured.

Because gig platforms only report your gross fares, the mileage deduction is often the single largest write-off a driver has, and the one most commonly under-claimed. Track every leg you can legitimately count: miles driving to your first pickup, between trips while logged in and available, and from your last drop-off back toward home up to the point your shift ends. Once you know your net Schedule C profit, run it through the Self-Employment Tax Calculator to see the 15.3% Social Security and Medicare bite, and the Income Tax Calculator for the federal layer. One caveat: if you ever used the actual-expense method and claimed depreciation on a vehicle, you generally cannot switch back to the standard rate for that car.

Federal rate vs. state and company rules

The IRS rate is a federal tax figure: it sets the most an employer can reimburse you tax-free without proof of actual costs, and the rate the self-employed deduct. It does not, by itself, require any employer to pay it. Most private employers in most states are free to set their own cents-per-mile figure, pay a flat car allowance instead, or reimburse nothing at all for a salaried role. A few states require employers to reimburse necessary business expenses, including California (Labor Code section 2802) and Illinois (820 ILCS 115/9.5), and California's labor agency accepts the IRS rate as a reasonable mileage payment, so many employers simply adopt it.

This is why the custom-rate field matters. If your company pays a flat $0.60 while the IRS rate is $0.76, you are absorbing 16¢ of real cost per mile that you generally cannot recover as a W-2 employee, because the One Big Beautiful Bill Act made the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspension of the unreimbursed-employee-expense deduction permanent. Enter both figures here to quantify that gap before you negotiate. If instead you receive a fixed monthly car allowance rather than per-mile pay, that allowance is usually taxable wages in full unless it is paid under an accountable plan tied to documented miles, a key distinction many employees miss.

Limitations and assumptions

• It applies the IRS rates for 2025 and both halves of 2026; earlier years use different rates, and a log that spans July 1, 2026 has to be split.
• It does not add parking, tolls, or ferry fees, which are claimed separately from the mileage rate.
• It does not model the actual-expense method or vehicle depreciation schedules.
• It does not determine whether a trip qualifies; you must apply the IRS rules on business, medical and charitable use.
• State reimbursement rules and your specific tax situation may differ; confirm with the IRS or a tax professional.

How it compares to related calculators

This page answers "what is my mileage reimbursement?" If you have a different question, a sister tool fits better:

• To estimate your overall federal tax, use the Income Tax Calculator.
• To see your take-home pay after tax and FICA, use the Paycheck Calculator.
• To find your marginal and effective rate, use the Tax Bracket Calculator or the Effective Tax Rate Calculator.
• To estimate a refund, use the Tax Refund Calculator.

Sources

• Internal Revenue Service (IRS) - Standard mileage rates (rate history from 2021 to 2026).
• Internal Revenue Service (IRS) - Announcement 2026-11 in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2026-29: 76¢ business and 23.5¢ medical/moving from July 1, 2026.
• Internal Revenue Service (IRS) - Notice 2026-10: 2026 standard mileage rates (PDF), including the permanent limits on employee and moving expense deductions.
• Internal Revenue Service (IRS) - Notice 2025-5: 2025 standard mileage rates (PDF).
• Internal Revenue Service (IRS) - Publication 463: Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses.
• California Department of Industrial Relations - DLSE opinion letter on Labor Code section 2802 mileage reimbursement; Illinois General Assembly - 820 ILCS 115/9.5.