Miles you drove before July 1, 2026 are worth 72.5 cents each. Miles you drove from July 1 on are worth 76 cents. The IRS set the first rate in December 2025, then raised it mid-year once gas prices climbed — something it has only done once before, in 2022. It announced the increase on July 13, but made it effective retroactively to July 1. Medical and qualifying moving mileage split the same way: 20.5 cents through June, 23.5 cents after. Charitable mileage stays flat at 14 cents all year, set by law rather than by the IRS. If you are still applying one flat rate to every mile you drove in 2026, half of your deduction is wrong.
Split the math at July 1
Treat 2026 as two separate mileage years and add them together at the end, not one year with a single rate. Do not average the two rates together. Multiply your miles from each half of the year by that half's rate, then add the totals. Drive 8,000 business miles from January through June and 10,000 from July through December. The math is 8,000 times 72.5 cents for $5,800, plus 10,000 times 76 cents for $7,600, for $13,400 total. Blended, that works out to about 74.4 cents a mile — two separate numbers added together, not one flat rate for the whole year. The same split applies to medical or moving mileage, at 20.5 and 23.5 cents instead.
Your log needs dates on every trip
Publication 463 has required trip-level records for years: the date, the destination, and the business purpose, noted at or near the time you drove. A running year-end total used to get by because there was only one rate to apply. That will not work this year, because a total with no dates cannot be split between the two halves of the year. When I see a log that is a single number with no dates, rebuilding it is the first thing I do. I use calendars, invoices, or appointment records, and the sooner the better while those are still easy to pull. If your log already has dates, check that your app or spreadsheet switched to 76 cents on July 1 instead of continuing at 72.5.
Get my free 2026 mileage log
It's the spreadsheet I'd hand a client. Enter the date and miles for each trip, and it applies 72.5 cents before July 1 and 76 cents after. It adds up each half of the year and flags any business trip that's missing a purpose. I'll email it to you.
I only use your email to send the log, plus tools and tips if you check the box above. I never sell or share it.
What to do this week
- Split your log at July 1 if you have not done that yet, with June 30 and earlier as one total and July 1 forward as a second.
- Confirm your mileage app or spreadsheet started charging 76 cents to trips after July 1.
- If you track medical or moving mileage, apply the same split at 20.5 cents through June and 23.5 cents after.
- Leave charitable mileage alone. It stays at 14 cents all year, with nothing to split.
The math itself is simple. The only work is remembering that 2026 has two rates instead of one flat number.
Official IRS sources
These are the pages I used for the numbers above:
- IRS Notice 2026-10, the original 2026 rates: 72.5 cents business, 20.5 cents medical or moving, and 14 cents charitable, effective January 1.
- Internal Revenue Bulletin 2026-29 (Announcement 2026-11), the mid-year increase to 76 cents business and 23.5 cents medical or moving, effective July 1.
- IRS Publication 463, the recordkeeping rules behind why a dated log matters.