IRS Standard Mileage Rates and Rules for 2024-2025

If you drive for your business or plan to rack up miles while volunteering this year, you might be eligible to deduct some of that mileage on your tax return.

To qualify for this deduction, the miles must have been driven for qualifying business, medical, moving or charity purposes, and you may have to itemize on your return to claim the tax break. Rates are valid for electric, plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), gas and diesel-fueled cars.

The IRS standard mileage rates for calendar year 2025 took effect on January 1, 2025. Most rates remain unchanged from last year, with the exception of a 3-cent increase in business miles. This deduction is claimed on tax returns filed in 2026.

• Business: 70 cents per mile.

• Charity: 14 cents per mile.

• Medical: 21 cents per mile.

• Moving (military): 21 cents per mile.

The standard mileage rates for 2024 apply to miles driven throughout the 2024 calendar year (claimed on taxes filed in 2025). How much you can deduct varies depending on how you used your vehicle.

• Business: 67 cents per mile.

• Charity: 14 cents per mile.

• Medical: 21 cents per mile.

• Moving (military): 21 cents per mile.

If you’re self-employed or work as a contractor, you might be able to deduct the cost of using your car for business purposes. Commuting to work is generally not deductible mileage, but you may be able to deduct mileage for business-related trips, such as those made to clients, meetings or temporary workplaces^[0]

You can also choose whether to deduct standard mileage using the rates above versus actual expense (e.g., repairs, depreciation, gas, and so forth), but you can't deduct both. Expenses for tolls or parking fees related to business use, however, are separately deductible regardless of which method you use^[0]

There are two options for calculating the business deduction for the use of your vehicle.

1. Standard mileage deduction

This is the most straightforward way of calculating your driving expense: simply multiply the number of business miles by the IRS mileage rate. However, you’ll need to keep a record of your business-related mileage.

To use the standard IRS mileage deduction method, you must own or lease the car. But the rules for business mileage deductions can be complex, especially if you use lots of vehicles for business. The IRS website has more details^[0]

2. Actual expenses

If you don’t want to track your mileage, you could track and deduct the actual expenses you incur while using your vehicle for business purposes. These expenses may include:

» MORE: See what other tax breaks you can take if you’re self-employed

IRS standard mileage rate for volunteering and charitable activities

If you use your car to help a charity or to go somewhere to volunteer, the mileage can be deductible. You can deduct parking fees and tolls as well.

If you don’t want to deduct your mileage, you can deduct your unreimbursed out-of-pocket expenses, such as gas and oil. However, the expenses have to relate directly to using your car to give services to a charitable organization. Also, you can't deduct repair and maintenance costs, depreciation, registration fees, tires, or insurance^[0]

» MORE: See what else counts as a charitable deduction

IRS standard mileage rate for moving

Only active-duty military members can deduct mileage related to moving on their federal income tax returns. The move must be related to a permanent change of station^[0]

IRS standard mileage rate for medical

If you used your car for medical reasons, you may be able to deduct the mileage. "Medical reasons" include:

• Driving to the doctor, hospital or other medical facility.

• Driving a child or other person who needs medical care to receive medical care.

• Driving to see a mentally ill dependent if the visits are recommended as part of treatment.

You can deduct parking fees and tolls as well.

If you don’t want to deduct your mileage, another option is to deduct your unreimbursed out-of-pocket expenses, such as gas and oil. The expenses must relate directly to the use of your car for medical purposes, and you can't deduct repair and maintenance costs, depreciation or insurance.

Mileage isn’t the only transportation cost you might be able to deduct as a medical expense. IRS Publication 502 has the details. Here’s a big caveat: In general, you can deduct qualified, unreimbursed medical expenses that are more than 7.5% of your adjusted gross income.

» MORE: See what else you might be able to deduct as a medical expense

If you're deducting mileage for moving, medical or charity purposes, you'll need to itemize on your tax return in order to claim the tax deduction. Itemizing means you’ll need to set aside extra time when preparing your returns to fill tax forms Form 1040 and Schedule A, as well as supporting schedules that feed into those forms.

If you're self-employed, you’ll claim your mileage deduction as a business expense on Schedule C. If you file your taxes online, the software will ask about your mileage during the interview process and calculate the deduction.

» Still need to file? Check out NerdWallet's top tax software picks

This is important because if you’re audited, you may need to show a log of the miles you drove to substantiate your deduction.