An IRS-ready log.
Mileage tracker for taxes.

The best way is a contemporaneous log, recorded at or near the time of each trip. IRS Publication 463 wants the date, business purpose, destination, and miles for each business trip, plus total and business miles for the year, and odometer readings if you have them. Tracking miles for taxes is easiest with an app that tracks mileage for taxes automatically, so the log builds itself as you drive. That is what TaxMiles does. Publication 463 and Topic 510 explain the rules; they do not guarantee a deduction.

The IRS changed the business rate mid-year in 2026. Miles driven January 1 – June 30 are deducted at 72.5¢/mile; miles driven July 1 – December 31 are deducted at 76¢/mile. The medical and moving rate rose from 20.5¢ to 23.5¢, and the charitable rate stayed at 14¢. TaxMiles applies the correct rate to each trip automatically based on its date, so one year's log spanning both halves still calculates correctly. Full breakdown of the mid-year change →

Yes. TaxMiles Pro includes a CarPlay app, so you can start and stop trips from your car's built-in screen without touching your phone. While a trip runs, CarPlay shows live miles and the dollar deduction you're earning in real time. CarPlay is a Pro feature — free users see an unlock notice on the car screen.

Yes. Home and Lock Screen widgets show your miles, deductions and tax set-aside at a glance, and a Live Activity keeps your current trip on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island while you drive. There's also a quarterly deadline countdown that appears in the last two weeks before an estimated-tax payment is due, showing the days remaining and what to set aside.

It depends on your car and your mileage. Standard mileage — business miles × the IRS rate — usually wins for higher-mileage or inexpensive-to-run vehicles. Actual expenses — gas, insurance, registration, repairs, lease payments and depreciation prorated by business use — often wins for newer or pricier cars driven fewer miles. TaxMiles calculates both from your own data and shows which is larger. One rule matters most: you must choose standard mileage in the first year you use a car for business if you want that option available later. Full comparison guide →

Often yes. The IRS generally gives you three years from the filing deadline to amend a return using Form 1040-X. TaxMiles looks back across your tracked and imported history, totals the business miles never claimed in each prior year, and estimates the refund those deductions represent — so you can judge whether amending is worth the effort.

Not on a federal return — the 2017 tax law suspended the deduction for unreimbursed employee business expenses. But several states never adopted that suspension, including California, New York, Pennsylvania, Alabama, Arkansas, Hawaii, Iowa and Minnesota, so the same miles can still be deductible on your state return. TaxMiles tells you where your state stands. If you're self-employed this doesn't limit you at all — your mileage is a Schedule C business expense in every state.

The standard mileage rate has depreciation built into it — 35¢ of every business mile in 2026 — and that depreciation reduces your vehicle's tax basis. When you sell, your gain is measured against the reduced basis, so a sale that feels like a loss can still be taxable, and part of any gain is depreciation recapture taxed as ordinary income. TaxMiles tracks how much basis you've used and estimates the gain and recapture before you sell, rather than after.

Yes. Start and stop a drive from your wrist, watch the trip run with live distance, and check your totals without reaching for your phone. Complications put your mileage and deduction on the watch face in circular, rectangular, corner and inline styles. There's also a Control Center control and Siri support — "Start a trip in TaxMiles" — so logging a drive never needs the Home Screen.

TaxMiles uses a combination of GPS location services and device motion sensors to detect when you start driving. It identifies speeds above 10mph sustained for a few seconds, then switches to precision GPS tracking. Stops at traffic lights won't end your trip — we only finalize trips after you've been stationary for 5+ minutes.

No. TaxMiles uses a dual-mode system: low-power monitoring when idle (using significant location changes and motion coprocessor), and precision GPS only during active trips. Most users report less than 3% additional battery usage per day.

Yes. Our reports include all fields required by the IRS: date, starting location, ending location, trip purpose, business/personal classification, and mileage. Reports use the current IRS standard mileage rate and are available in PDF and CSV formats.

Absolutely. The Free plan gives you 40 business trips per month with full auto-detection, and you can see every trip and your deduction totals — no credit card required. Exports and the tax tools are Pro. Paid plans include a 7-day free trial so you can experience unlimited tracking, reports, and AI features risk-free.

Your data never leaves your device unless you enable iCloud sync (encrypted end-to-end). We never sell location data, never share it with third parties, and never use it for advertising. Period.

Yes. TaxMiles has a dedicated CPA Export feature that generates IRS-ready Schedule C reports in PDF and CSV, plus import files for QuickBooks (CSV and IIF), Xero, FreshBooks and Wave. You send them by email, AirDrop or Files. TaxMiles doesn't connect to your accountant's software, and nobody else gets access to your data.

Add unlimited vehicles to your account and TaxMiles will automatically assign trips based on which vehicle you're driving. You can also manually assign vehicles and track per-vehicle mileage and expenses separately.

Audit Shield is a readiness scoring system that analyzes your mileage records against IRS compliance criteria. It checks for missing trip purposes, incomplete classifications, and other audit red flags, giving you a score and actionable recommendations.

Tax Runway shows how many more business miles you need to reach your next savings milestone (e.g., $1,000 or $5,000 in deductions). Deduction Velocity tracks your $/hour and $/mile efficiency, helping you understand which routes and times of day generate the most tax savings so you can drive smarter.

Never. All trip data is stored on your device by default. Voice notes are transcribed on-device. iCloud sync is optional and end-to-end encrypted. We have no ads, no tracking, and we never sell data. You can use Sign in with Apple for maximum privacy.

Yes. Log your income and shifts, and TaxMiles shows a live estimate of what to set aside — self-employment tax, federal, and state — updated with every mile you drive and every deduction you add. You even get a nudge each time your set-aside crosses a new milestone.

Yes, with Pro. The Deduction Finder covers non-vehicle Schedule C write-offs — phone and internet, home office, supplies, software, insurance, business meals and more — with suggestions tailored to your line of work. Add one-time purchases or recurring monthly bills and they flow straight into your tax estimate.

The IRS asks for your vehicle's odometer reading at the start and end of each tax year to support your business-use percentage. TaxMiles lets you snap a dated dashboard photo and stores each reading with its date; it does not send a reminder, so put December 31 and January 1 in your own calendar. Entering readings is free; the business-use percentage report is Pro.