I use MileIQ (https://mileiq.com/) to track all my mileage. As long as I have my phone it uses GPS data for mileage collection. I got this notice today about the new rates for 2026.
“Your 2026 business mileage rate is 72.5 cents per mile
Good news! The IRS increased the standard mileage rate to 72.5 cents per mile — that means your drives will be worth even more in 2026. Medical and moving mileage rates also changed to 20.5 cents per mile, while the charitable mileage rate is staying the same.
There’s nothing you need to do — we’ll automatically update your account and future reports with the new rate on January 1st. If you have a custom mileage rate, it will stay the same for 2026.”
They let you group trips into personal, business, medical (I always forget) and more.
Pretty handy and not very much cash to use the App.
It’s always fun when we take a trip – the flight to Prague this Summer didn’t register as mileage, but a trip to CA a few years ago logged in at the time as a couple thousand miles!
It looks like they fixed that so I lose some major miles!
As the IRS business mileage rates go up, so does the profit in owning an EV.
I live in southern California, where taxes have pushed the price of a gallon of gas to nearly five dollars. So even though I got decent MPG with a compact car, it was costing me about 12 cents per mile in fuel. Also, maintenance was becoming a significant cost as the car got older.
An EV allows a taxpayer to avoid many of these issues. Even if you charge at a charging station, it may only cost you 7 to 15 cents per mile. If you charge at home, it is probably under 5 cents per mile. And if you have solar cells, the cost approaches zero. ( The maintenance cost are lower too, because the car is simpler )
I recently bought a used low-mileage Kia EV6.
I acquire the majority of my inventory from libraries and thrift stores. I visit post offices and UPS drop-offs too. All of these tend to be located in commercial districts, so I can do much of my other errands en route. The direct path is deductible, and I pay for the minor side trip.
Even including the cost of buying the car, my net travel costs are approaching zero. The costs of operating an EV are getting low enough, and mileage deductions are getting high enough that I may soon actually be paid to drive. I only need to be able to show the IRS that the end point is a reasonable place to visit for business.
Many of my fellow sellers who read this acquire inventory exclusively from wholesalers. I urge you to change this. Depending on your tax situation and your cost of electricity, you may be able to make a net profit by driving too.
My last fill up was at $2.58/gallon so my 2015 gas guzzler at 25MPG is about 10 cents a mile. My wife is getting slightly over 40MPG for her 2025 Toyota Corolla, so about 6.5 cents.
Has CA figured out a way to get all you electric guys to pay the equivalent of what we pay in State gas taxes for road maintenance for all the miles you use the roads for?
Considering how many miles I put on (two cars combined over 40,000), and WI at 32.9 cents per gallon, any high mileage electrics are getting off CHEAP.
In CA the tax is 61.2/gallon. Do they REALLY believe that the average electric vehicle only drives less than 180 miles PER YEAR?
Change all those flat rates to metered rates. Almost every vehicle has GPS data anymore so log it and charge the equivalent rate. Anyone disabling or playing games with the data gets a vehicle confiscated.
And to answer my question about ‘have the figured it out’ clearly NO, they have not.
About darn time they published it. I was preparing my mileage and expense logs template for next year this past weekend and the rate was not published. Now eye can git er dun