If you deduct business driving in 2026, one rate no longer covers the year. Miles you drove from January 1 through June 30 are worth 72.5 cents each (IRS Notice 2026-10); miles from July 1 through December 31 are worth 76 cents each (IRS Announcement 2026-11). The IRS lifted the rate mid-year to catch up with fuel prices, which means your 2026 log has to be split at June 30, not totaled as a single number.

Tax Disclaimer: This article provides educational information based on IRS guidance and is not tax advice. Consult a certified CPA or tax professional for individual advice.

What actually changed

The IRS sets one business standard mileage rate a year and only rarely moves it partway through. 2026 is one of the rare years: Announcement 2026-11 modified the original Notice 2026-10 and raised the business rate from 72.5 cents to 76 cents for every mile driven on or after July 1 (IRS: Standard mileage rates). The trigger was fuel costs, the same reason the agency split 2022 into two rates. What fixes a mile’s rate is the day you drove it, not the day you invoice or file, so a trip you drove in May but billed in December is still a 72.5-cent trip.

How to split your log

You need two mileage totals for 2026, divided at June 30, each multiplied by its own rate.

Say you drove 4,000 business miles in the first half of the year and 3,000 in the second. The first half is 4,000 × $0.725 = $2,900. The second half is 3,000 × $0.76 = $2,280. Your 2026 deduction is $5,180. Total the same 7,000 miles at one rate and you are either shortchanging yourself or overstating the claim — by $105 here, small until the IRS asks to see your math.

If your tracking app timestamps trips, this is a filter rather than a recount: pull the mid-year break and both totals are already there. If you keep a paper log or a spreadsheet, add a column now marking which side of June 30 each trip falls on, before the year closes and the dates blur together.

The other rates moved too — except one

The mid-year change was not only for business driving. The medical and qualified-military-moving rate rose from 20.5 cents to 23.5 cents on the same July 1 line (IRS: Standard mileage rates). The charitable rate did not move at all: it is fixed at 14 cents per mile by statute, not adjusted for inflation or fuel, so it stays 14 cents for the whole of 2026 and every trip regardless of date (IRS: Standard mileage rates).

One rule before you pick the standard rate

The standard mileage rate is the simple path — one number per mile, no gas or repair receipts — but there is a catch worth knowing for a car you own. To use the standard rate at all, you generally have to choose it in the first year the car is available for business use; take actual expenses that first year instead and you are locked out of the standard rate for that vehicle for as long as you drive it (IRS Topic 510). A leased car works the other way: choose the standard rate and you have to keep it for the entire lease. Decide before you file the first return for that car, because the door closes quietly.

The bottom line

For 2026, treat your mileage as two numbers, not one: everything through June 30 at 72.5 cents (IRS Notice 2026-10), everything from July 1 at 76 cents (IRS Announcement 2026-11), added together. Medical and moving miles split the same way; charitable miles stay flat at 14 cents (IRS Standard Mileage Rates). Total both halves on your own numbers in the mileage deduction calculator, then fold the result into the rest of your self-employment picture — where the deduction lowers the earnings that 15.3% self-employment tax applies to — in the 1099 tax estimator. The split is a few minutes of sorting now, or a letter from the IRS later.