The IRS almost never changes mileage rates mid-year. In 2026 it did: the business rate started at 72.5¢ a mile, then climbed to 76¢ on July 1 after fuel prices spiked. If you drive for work, that split changes how you run the numbers — and it makes the humble mileage log worth more than ever.
There are two answers, and the date you drove decides which one applies. Business miles driven January 1 through June 30, 2026 reimburse at 72.5¢ per mile. Miles from July 1 through December 31 reimburse at 76¢ per mile. Medical and moving mileage (active-duty military on orders, after the 2017 tax law suspended everyone else's moving deduction) runs 20.5¢ then 23.5¢. Charity stays at 14¢, because that rate isn't set by the IRS at all — it's fixed by statute and only Congress can move it, which is why it hasn't budged in decades.
| Year | Business | Medical / Moving | Charitable |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (Jan–Jun) | 72.5¢ | 20.5¢ | 14¢ |
| 2026 (Jul–Dec) | 76¢ | 23.5¢ | 14¢ |
| 2025 | 70¢ | 21¢ | 14¢ |
| 2024 | 67¢ | 21¢ | 14¢ |
| 2023 | 65.5¢ | 22¢ | 14¢ |
| 2022 (Jan–Jun / Jul–Dec) | 58.5¢ / 62.5¢ | 18¢ / 22¢ | 14¢ |
| 2021 | 56¢ | 16¢ | 14¢ |
| 2020 | 57.5¢ | 17¢ | 14¢ |
Notice the pattern: with fuel prices and vehicle costs climbing, the rate has risen every year since 2021's low of 56¢. A driver logging 10,000 business miles claimed $5,600 at 2021's rate and $7,600 at the current one — a $2,000 annual difference from the rate alone.
The IRS sets rates each December for the following year, using fixed and variable operating cost data. When costs move sharply after the announcement, it occasionally revises mid-year. That happened in 2022 (58.5¢ to 62.5¢ in July, after the post-pandemic gas spike) and again in 2026: the July 13 announcement in IR-2026-29 raised the business rate 3.5 cents and the medical rate 3 cents, citing rising fuel and vehicle operating costs. Twice in five years suggests mid-year corrections are becoming less rare than the historical once-a-generation pattern — worth remembering every June.
The practical consequence is bookkeeping. A trip spanning July 1 gets split: miles through June 30 at 72.5¢, miles after at 76¢. Mileage apps handle this automatically; a paper log needs you to note the date carefully.
Pick a purpose and period, enter miles, and get the reimbursement at any IRS rate back to 2019 — including both halves of the 2026 split.
Mileage Reimbursement Calculator →The standard rate is a bundle. It stands in for fuel, oil, tires, repairs and maintenance, insurance, license and registration fees, and depreciation. In exchange for the flat rate, you give up deducting any of those individually — no keeping gas receipts alongside the mileage claim. Two costs sit outside the bundle and stay separately deductible: parking and tolls. Bridge tolls on a client visit ride on top of the per-mile rate, not inside it.
The alternative is the actual-expense method: track every operating cost all year, total it, multiply by your business-use percentage. It can beat the standard rate for an expensive vehicle or very heavy business use, but you must use the standard method the first year you claim the car. After that you can switch between them — which makes year one a decision point, not a default.
It's one multiplication: miles × rate. A consultant who logged 1,200 business miles in September 2026 claims 1,200 × $0.76 = $912. The same miles at the 2025 rate would have paid $840, so the raise is worth $72 a month at that mileage. For a year split across the rate change, run the halves separately: say 4,000 miles through June at 72.5¢ ($2,900) plus 6,000 miles from July at 76¢ ($4,560) = $7,460 total.
Employers who use the federal rate as their policy can just cut the check. Many don't — some pay a lower cents-per-mile rate, others a flat monthly car allowance, and larger fleets sometimes run a FAVR plan (fixed and variable rate allowance) that pays a fixed monthly amount for insurance and depreciation plus a smaller variable rate for fuel. All legal. The IRS rate is a ceiling for tax-free treatment, not a floor for payroll.
The IRS wants contemporaneous records: date, destination, business purpose, and odometer readings (start and end, or the trip mileage). Apps that track GPS miles automatically satisfy this; a notebook in the glovebox does too. What doesn't work is reconstructing a year of driving in April from memory and plausible round numbers. If you're audited, unreconstructable claims shrink to zero fast — and with the rate at 76¢, every 100 disputed miles is $76.
72.5 cents per mile for business driving from January 1 through June 30, 2026, and 76 cents per mile from July 1 through December 31, 2026. Medical and moving miles run 20.5 cents then 23.5 cents, and the charitable rate stays at the statutory 14 cents.
The IRS raised the business rate 3.5 cents effective July 1 (IR-2026-29) in response to rising fuel and vehicle operating costs. Mid-year changes are rare — 2022 was the only other recent example, when the rate jumped from 58.5 to 62.5 cents in July.
At the July-December rate of 76 cents, 1,000 business miles reimburses $760. The same miles in the first half of the year paid $725, and at the 2025 rate they would have paid $700.
Only if your employer follows the federal rate. Employers can legally reimburse at any rate (or pay a flat allowance), and employees who receive less than the federal rate generally cannot deduct the difference since 2018 — only reservists, performing artists, and a few other categories still can.