The short answer
For 2026 there are two business rates. Miles you drive from January 1 to June 30, 2026 are worth 72.5 cents each. Miles you drive from July 1, 2026 are worth 76 cents each. The IRS raised the rate in the middle of the year (Announcement 2026-11), which it rarely does; the last time was 2022.
- 2026, January 1 – June 30: 72.5¢ per mile
- 2026, July 1 – December 31: 76¢ per mile
- 2025: 70¢ per mile
- 2024: 67¢ per mile
The date you drove decides the rate, not the date you file or get paid.
What it's worth: an example
Say you drive 300 business miles a week all year. That's about 7,800 miles in each half of 2026:
- 7,800 miles × $0.725 = $5,655 (January to June)
- 7,800 miles × $0.76 = $5,928 (July to December)
- Total deduction: about $11,583
The deduction lowers the profit you pay tax on. Gig drivers pay self-employment tax of about 14.1% of profit, so $11,583 of deductions saves about $1,600 in self-employment tax alone, and more if you also pay income tax. Try your own numbers in the mileage deduction calculator.
Which miles count
Count the miles you drive while you're working:
- Driving to a pickup or a store.
- Driving a passenger or making a delivery.
- Driving between orders, or moving to a busier area, while you're on the app.
Personal errands don't count, even with the app on. The drive from home to your first pickup and back home after your last drop-off is a gray area that depends on your situation, so ask a tax professional before you claim it.
What the rate covers, and what you can deduct on top
The standard rate replaces your actual car costs: gas, oil changes, repairs, tires, insurance, registration and depreciation. You can't deduct those separately if you use the rate. You can still deduct, in addition:
- Parking fees and tolls on business trips.
- The business share of the interest on your car loan, if you're self-employed.
Standard rate or actual expenses?
Instead of the rate, you can deduct the business share of your real car costs. Most gig drivers come out ahead with the standard rate, especially in a fuel-efficient car. Two rules matter:
- To keep the option of the standard rate, use it in the first year you use the car for business. You can switch to actual expenses in a later year.
- If you lease and choose the standard rate, you must use it for the whole lease.
Keep a log
The IRS can disallow mileage you can't back up. Keep a record made at the time, not rebuilt at tax time, with the date, the miles, where you went and the business purpose of each trip. Writing down your odometer reading on January 1 helps too. Keep the log for at least three years after you file. Missed some trips? See how to rebuild a mileage log.
Gigstrak records trips in the background on Android, with the date and miles of each one. You mark each trip business or personal with a swipe and export the log at tax time. Get Gigstrak on Google Play.
Sources
IRS Notice 2026-10 (rates from January 1, 2026) and Announcement 2026-11 in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2026-29 (rates from July 1, 2026); IRS Publication 463. This guide is general information, not tax advice.