Schedule C · Driving for work · Tax year 2026
Gig Driver Mileage Deduction: The 2026 Rates, by Half Year
For tax year 2026 the IRS standard mileage rate for business driving is split in two: 72.5 cents a mile from January 1 to June 30, and 76 cents a mile from July 1 to December 31 (IRS releases IR-2025-128 and IR-2026-29). There is no single 2026 rate. Enter your business miles for each half of the year and the estimator applies the matching rate to each, returning the deduction amount: the figure that reduces net self-employment income on Schedule C.
Last reviewed: November 4, 2026. Rates retrieved: November 4, 2026.
Checked against IRS sources · Reviewed November 4, 2026
The mileage estimator
each mile takes its own half year's rate
The 2026 rates, as published
| Period driven | Rate per mile | Published in |
|---|---|---|
| January 1 to June 30, 2026 | 72.5 cents | IRS release IR-2025-128 |
| July 1 to December 31, 2026 | 76 cents | IRS release IR-2026-29 |
The rate is a bundle: fuel, maintenance, repairs, insurance, and depreciation on the car, all carried in the one cents-per-mile figure. Business parking fees and tolls sit outside it and are deductible on top, under either method of figuring car expenses. The same IRS page lists separate, lower rates for other kinds of driving, such as charitable and medical miles; this page covers business driving only.
Which miles count
- Trips doing the work: every mile with a passenger in the car or a delivery on board.
- Driving between jobs while working: from a drop-off to the next pickup, between delivery stops, and on to the next call. Driving from one work location to another in the same working day is business mileage under the IRS rules.
- Not business miles: ordinary commuting between home and a regular work place, and personal miles, including errands run on a working day. Where a driver's work begins wherever the app is switched on, the miles the platform records while the driver is working are the starting point for the figure; the driver's own log is the record that supports it.
Tips on top of the fares are a separate subject, with a deduction of their own for 2026: the rideshare and delivery driver page covers the contractor side of the tips rules in full.
The record that supports the deduction
A mileage deduction stands or falls on its records. Publication 463 asks for four things, recorded at or near the time of each trip: the date, the miles driven, the destination, and the business purpose. A log kept as you go, on paper or in an app, is the record the IRS rule describes. Records reconstructed at the end of the year from memory carry less weight than records made as the miles were driven, and platform trip records, which carry the date, the route, and the miles, are worth keeping alongside your own log rather than instead of it.
The other method: actual expenses
The standard mileage rate is one of two methods. Under the actual expense method, the driver tracks every cost of running the car, fuel, repairs, insurance, lease payments or depreciation, and deducts the share that matches the business percentage of the year's total miles. Publication 463 sets the conditions for each method, including that the standard mileage choice is made in the first year the car is available for business use, and that the two methods cannot both be claimed for the same car. Whichever method is used, the mileage log is still needed: the business percentage under the actual method comes from the same record.
What the deduction is worth
The deduction reduces net self-employment income on Schedule C, so it lowers both the self-employment tax and the income tax figured on that income. This page shows the deduction amount only, because the saving depends on the driver's whole return. The 1099 tax calculator takes a net income figure, after expenses such as this one, and estimates the two taxes together, and the Schedule C deductions checklist sets out every expense category the form carries.
Questions and answers
Why are there two mileage rates for one year?
The IRS set the 2026 business rate at 72.5 cents in release IR-2025-128, then raised it to 76 cents for the second half of the year in release IR-2026-29, as it last did in 2022 when costs moved mid-year. Each mile takes the rate in force on the date it was driven, which is why the estimator asks for the two halves of the year separately.
Can I use 76 cents for the whole year to keep it simple?
No. Miles driven from January 1 to June 30, 2026 take the 72.5 cent rate, and only miles driven from July 1 onward take 76 cents. Applying the higher rate to first-half miles overstates the deduction, and the overstatement is exactly the kind a mileage log exposes, because the log dates every trip.
The app tracks my miles. Is that enough of a record?
It is most of one. The IRS record rule, in Publication 463, asks for the date, the miles, the destination, and the business purpose, recorded at or near the time of the trip. Platform records cover the miles, the times, and the trips themselves. Keep them, and add a note of the business purpose wherever it is not obvious from the trip record, rather than reconstructing the year afterward.
Do parking and tolls come on top of the rate?
Yes. Business parking fees and tolls are deductible in addition to the standard mileage rate, under both the standard mileage method and the actual expense method. Keep the receipts or the app records for them separately, because they are not inside the cents-per-mile figure.
Sources
- IRS, Standard Mileage Rates, irs.gov. The 2026 split for business use: 72.5 cents a mile for January 1 to June 30, 2026 (release IR-2025-128) and 76 cents a mile for July 1 to December 31, 2026 (release IR-2026-29). Retrieved November 4, 2026.
- IRS, Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses. The standard mileage rules, the actual expense alternative, business parking and tolls on top of the rate, and the record requirements for car expenses.
- IRS, Topic No. 510, Business Use of Car. The two methods and the business use rules in summary form.
Last reviewed: November 4, 2026.