How to Apply the 2026 IRS Mileage Rate Change (72.5¢, Then 76¢)

On July 1, 2026 the IRS raised the business standard mileage rate from 72.5 cents to 76 cents per mile. That is good news if you drive for Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart, or any other 1099 work. It also breaks the usual tax-time shortcut: one annual mile total times one rate.

This is a practical how-to for getting the 2026 number right — two buckets, two rates, a log you can defend, and a quarterly payment that is not still priced at the old rate.

Step 1: Write down the two official rates

The IRS sets the standard mileage rate to approximate what it costs to run a car. It usually publishes one business rate for the whole calendar year. In 2026 it published two, because fuel and operating costs moved enough after the January number was locked in. Mid-year revisions are uncommon; the last ones were in 2011 and 2022, both also effective July 1.

Purpose	Jan 1 – Jun 30	Jul 1 – Dec 31	Change
Business	72.5¢/mile	76¢/mile	+3.5¢
Medical / Moving	20.5¢/mile	23.5¢/mile	+3¢
Charitable	14¢/mile	14¢/mile	No change

The charitable rate is set by statute, so the IRS cannot move it on its own. Most gig and 1099 drivers only need the business column. Put those two numbers at the top of your spreadsheet or notebook before you touch a single trip. If you later export a report, check that January–June lines still show 72.5¢ and that July-forward lines show 76¢ — not today’s rate stamped onto the whole year.

Step 2: Collect a dated list of every business trip

You cannot split what you cannot date. Pull a list that has, at minimum, the date and the miles for each work trip. Sources that actually help:

• A real-time log. Notebook, spreadsheet, or an automatic tracker — if every row already has a date, you are ready for Step 3.
• Platform trip history. Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart, and similar apps keep dated on-trip miles. Export or screenshot January through now. Those numbers usually understate business driving: they often skip the miles between drop-off and the next offer.
• Your calendar and messages. Job sites, client meetings, supply runs, and “I’m on the way” texts pin down days you worked and why.
• Odometer and service records. A dated oil-change invoice or a photo of the dash around July 1 is a boundary between the two halves.

If you multi-app, pull history from every platform. Then add the between-gig miles the apps do not record. A trip without a date cannot go in either bucket, which is how people end up guessing — and guessing is what gets a mileage deduction denied.

Step 3: Split the miles at June 30

Sort the list by date. Total business miles driven through June 30 in one cell. Total business miles driven from July 1 onward in another. Do not average the year and call it even unless your records actually show an even split.

If your only record is a year-to-date odometer and a pile of platform CSVs, rebuild day by day or week by week. A reconstructed log tied to third-party dates is weaker than a contemporaneous one, but it is still a log. “About half the year” is not.

Step 4: Multiply each half by its rate and add them

The 2026 standard mileage deduction is:

(Jan–Jun business miles × $0.725) + (Jul–Dec business miles × $0.76)

Worked example for a gig driver — 10,800 business miles through June 30 and 12,400 from July 1 through year-end:

• First half: 10,800 × $0.725 = $7,830
• Second half: 12,400 × $0.76 = $9,424
• 2026 deduction: $17,254

The same 23,200 miles at 72.5¢ all year would be $16,820. At 76¢ all year they would be $17,632. The first number under-claims $434. The second over-claims $378 on a line the IRS can check with arithmetic. Neither is the return you want.

Tolls and business parking still stack on top of the standard rate. Gas, oil, tires, and insurance do not — those are inside the cents-per-mile figure unless you elect the actual-expense method instead. If you are choosing between the two methods, read the standard mileage vs. actual expenses guide before you lock in a first-year election.

Step 5: Keep only miles the IRS treats as business

A perfect split does not help if the miles themselves do not qualify. For gig and other 1099 drivers:

• Usually counts: miles with a passenger or a delivery, miles to the next pickup after a drop-off, and miles after you turn the app on and start looking for work.
• Usually does not: personal errands (even if the app is still open), and the commute from home to a regular workplace.
• The home-office flip: if your home is your principal place of business — regular, exclusive admin work and no other fixed office — the first work drive of the day is generally a business mile, not a commute.

Turning the app on before you leave home is not a magic phrase, but it is evidence you were working when the car started moving. The commuting rules are unpacked in business miles vs. commuting miles. When a day mixes work and a grocery stop, log the work legs and leave the errand out.

Step 6: Store a contemporaneous log, not a year-end guess

The IRS wants records made at or near the time of each trip. Each entry should include:

1. The date
2. The destination or route
3. The business purpose (passenger, delivery, client visit, supply run)
4. The miles
5. A year-end odometer so you can show business-use percentage

If you are reconstructing part of the year, stay conservative: round down where the records are thin, and keep the platform exports with the log. The five-field checklist lives in the IRS mileage log requirements guide; the weekly habit for gig and 1099 drivers is in how to keep an IRS-ready mileage log. From here forward, log in real time so the second half of 2026 does not become another reconstruction project.

Step 7: Recalculate remaining 2026 estimated tax payments

Quarterly estimates are based on net profit, not on what the apps deposited. A larger mileage deduction means a smaller payment. Q3 estimated tax is due September 15, 2026 and covers June through August — a window that straddles the rate change. June miles stay at 72.5¢; July and August use 76¢.

If you set your 2026 quarterlies in January using 72.5¢ for every remaining mile, Q3 and Q4 are now too high. Recalculate before you pay so the extra deduction shows up as cash in your account, not as an April refund. For the half-hour version of that job, see the Q3 estimated-tax prep guide and how much to set aside on 1099 income.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the IRS mileage rate for 2026?

The business rate is 72.5¢ per mile for January 1 – June 30 and 76¢ per mile from July 1 through December 31. The medical and moving rate went from 20.5¢ to 23.5¢ on July 1. The charitable rate stayed at 14¢ all year.

Do I have to split my 2026 mileage log at June 30?

Yes. The deduction is first-half business miles × 72.5¢, plus second-half business miles × 76¢. One annual total times one rate will be wrong in one direction or the other.

Which miles count for Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and other 1099 drivers?

On-trip miles, miles between gigs, and driving after you turn the app on and start looking for work generally count. Personal errands do not. A commute to a regular workplace does not, unless your home qualifies as your principal place of business. See the rideshare tax guide and the delivery-driver guide for the platform-specific lists.

Can I use 76 cents for every 2026 mile?

No. 76¢ applies only to miles driven on or after July 1, 2026. Using it for January–June miles over-claims. Using 72.5¢ for the whole year under-claims.

What if a trip started in June and ended in July?

Use the date the driving occurred. June 30 miles stay at 72.5¢; July 1 miles use 76¢. Split a multi-day trip by the day, not by when you exported the log or when you file.

Does this change my 2025 tax return?

No. These rates apply to the 2026 tax year — the return you file in 2027. Miles driven in 2025 use the 2025 business rate of 70¢ per mile.

For the broader 2026 rate picture — who may use the standard rate, and how it compares to actual expenses — see the 2026 IRS mileage rate guide. More on the July 1 announcement itself is in the mid-year change recap.

Related reading: How Long to Keep Mileage Logs: IRS Rules, How to Keep an Odometer Photo Log for the IRS, MileIQ vs a Free iPhone Mileage Tracker, W-2 Employee Mileage Deduction by State.

This article is general tax education for U.S. federal returns, not tax advice and not a substitute for a CPA or enrolled agent. Confirm current IRS rates and record-keeping rules for your situation before you file. TaxMiles: Mileage Tracker is published by Gigabyte LLC on the App Store (app id 6758579463). It is a mileage log and estimate tool, not a tax preparer.