Mileage reimbursement calculator 2026 (72.5 and 76 cents)

The 2026 business rate is 72.5 cents a mile from January 1 to June 30 and 76 cents a mile from July 1 to December 31.

Driving	Jan 1 to Jun 30, 2026	Jul 1 to Dec 31, 2026
Business	72.5 cents	76 cents
Medical or military moving	20.5 cents	23.5 cents
Charity	14 cents	14 cents

The IRS raised the rate mid-year in Announcement 2026-11. For a mileage allowance, 76 cents applies when the trip and the payment are both on or after July 1. Trips in 2025 used 70 cents.

Multiply the miles driven before July 1 by 72.5 cents and the miles from July 1 by 76 cents, then add the two.

Reimbursement = (miles Jan 1 to Jun 30 x 0.725) + (miles Jul 1 to Dec 31 x 0.76)

Example: a driver logs 1,240 miles in the first half and 1,385 miles in the second.

• First half: 1,240 x 0.725 = 899.00 dollars
• Second half: 1,385 x 0.76 = 1,052.60 dollars
• Total: 1,951.60 dollars

The tool does this by trip date, so a pasted log splits itself.

The gap is 3.5 cents for every mile driven from July 1, since 76 minus 72.5 is 3.5.

Catch-up = miles Jul 1 to Dec 31 x 0.035

Example: 1,385 miles since July 1 x 0.035 = 48.48 dollars for that driver.

The IRS rate is the most you can pay tax-free, so paying the gap is your call. State rules vary.

Add a “paid so far” column and the tool shows what is still owed for each person.

Mileage paid at or below the IRS rate under an accountable plan is tax-free to the employee. A flat allowance with no mileage records is paid under a nonaccountable plan, so all of it is wages.

• Accountable plan: the employee drives for work, reports the trips within a reasonable period and returns any excess.
• Nonaccountable plan: the payment is wages, with income tax withholding, social security, Medicare and FUTA.
• Paying above the IRS rate: the part above the rate goes in box 1 of the W-2 as wages, and the rest in box 12 with code L.

Example: a 500 dollar monthly allowance is 6,000 dollars of wages a year. The same driver’s 2,625 miles are worth 1,951.60 dollars tax-free at the IRS rates.

Enter your allowance in step 4 to see the gap for each driver.

Each trip needs the date, the miles, the destination and the business purpose, written at or near the time of the trip.

• Date of the trip
• Miles for each business trip, plus total miles for the year
• Destination
• Business purpose

The IRS treats trips reported within 60 days, and any excess returned within 120 days, as on time. The blank log in step 1 opens in Excel or Google Sheets with these columns ready.

Getting trips out of job software and into payroll every month is one of our fixes.