Mileage Reimbursement Calculator 2026 — IRS & CRA Rates

Use the calculator above to estimate your mileage deduction for any number of miles or kilometres. It supports all three IRS rate categories (business, medical/moving, and charitable) as well as the tiered CRA per-kilometre rate for Canadian taxpayers. You can also enter a custom rate if your employer reimburses at a different amount.

2026 IRS Standard Mileage Rates

The IRS publishes standard mileage rates each year that you can use instead of tracking actual vehicle expenses. For 2026, the rates are:

The business rate (72.5¢/mile) is the most commonly used. It covers fuel, depreciation, insurance, maintenance, and all other vehicle operating costs. You cannot deduct these costs separately if you use the standard rate. The medical/moving rate applies only to qualified medical travel or active-duty military moves. The charitable rate is set by statute and rarely changes.

2026 CRA Per-Kilometre Rates (Canada)

The Canada Revenue Agency uses a tiered rate structure based on total kilometres driven during the year:

For example, if you drove 15,000 business kilometres in 2026, your CRA deduction would be: (5,000 x $0.73) + (10,000 x $0.67) = $3,650 + $6,700 = $10,350. Taxpayers in the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut receive an additional 4 cents per kilometre on both tiers.

Standard Mileage vs Actual Expenses

The IRS gives you two ways to deduct vehicle expenses: the standard mileage rate or the actual expense method. Here is how they compare:

For most people, the standard mileage rate is simpler and produces a comparable deduction. The actual expense method tends to be worth the extra bookkeeping only if you drive a luxury vehicle, have high maintenance costs, or your business-use percentage is very high (above 80%).

Mileage Reimbursement Rates by Year (2024 / 2025 / 2026)

The IRS adjusts the standard mileage rate every year based on a study of fixed and variable costs of operating a vehicle — fuel, depreciation, insurance, repairs. If you're amending a prior-year return or calculating reimbursement for a trip taken in an earlier tax year, you need the rate that was in effect when the trip happened, not the current rate.

The 2022 split is unusual — the IRS issued a mid-year increase in July 2022 in response to record fuel prices, the first such mid-year adjustment since 2011. If you drove for business across both halves of 2022, you need to apply each rate to the miles actually driven in that half. The charitable rate (14¢) is set by statute under 26 U.S.C. §170(i) and is not adjusted for inflation, which is why it has been frozen at 14 cents per mile for over two decades.

Canadian taxpayers can find equivalent CRA per-kilometre history in the 2026 CRA mileage rate guide (2026: 73¢/67¢; 2025: 72¢/66¢; 2024: 70¢/64¢).

Employer vs Self-Employed Mileage Reimbursement Rules

Mileage reimbursement works very differently depending on whether you're a W-2 employee receiving a per-mile allowance from your employer, or a self-employed individual claiming a deduction on your own return. Mixing up the two is one of the most common mistakes on tax returns.

If you're an employee receiving mileage reimbursement, the IRS uses what's called an "accountable plan" rule. As long as your employer reimburses you at or below the IRS standard rate (72.5¢ for 2026), the reimbursement is tax-free — it doesn't appear as income on your W-2 and you can't deduct the miles separately. If your employer reimburses above the IRS rate (some companies pay 80¢ or 90¢/mile to compete for talent), only the portion at or below 72.5¢ is tax-free; the excess is treated as taxable wages. If your employer reimburses below the IRS rate, you can no longer deduct the difference as a W-2 employee — that deduction was eliminated by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and has not been restored.

If you're self-employed (Schedule C, sole proprietor, single-member LLC, or independent contractor), you choose between two methods on your own return: the standard mileage rate (multiply business miles × 72.5¢) or the actual expense method (deduct the business-use percentage of fuel, insurance, maintenance, depreciation, lease payments, and registration fees). You must choose the standard mileage method in the first year you place a vehicle in business service to preserve the option of using it in future years; if you start with actual expenses, you generally cannot switch back to standard. Both methods require the same underlying mileage log.

For Canadian taxpayers, the equivalent split is between the CRA reasonable per-kilometre allowance (employees, tax-free up to the CRA rate) and the actual expense method on T2125 Part 7 (self-employed). See the 2026 CRA mileage rate guide for Canadian-specific allowance rules.

What Records the IRS Requires for Mileage Deductions

Under IRC Section 274(d), vehicle expenses are subject to strict substantiation rules. The IRS requires "contemporaneous records" -- meaning you must log trips at or near the time they occur. Your mileage log must include:

• Date of each business trip
• Destination (or route taken)
• Business purpose of the trip
• Miles driven for each trip

Without adequate records, the IRS can deny your entire mileage deduction during an audit -- even if you legitimately drove those miles for business. Keep your mileage logs for at least 3 years after filing (6 years if the IRS suspects a substantial understatement of income).

Frequently Asked Questions