2026 mileage rate: we missed the July 1 increase
What was wrong
The IRS set the 2026 business standard mileage rate at 72.5¢ a mile in January, then raised it to 76¢ a mile for miles driven on or after July 1, 2026 because of higher fuel prices (IRS Announcement 2026-11). Our calculators and guides kept using 72.5¢ for every 2026 mile. The medical and military moving rate also rose on July 1, from 20.5¢ to 23.5¢, and two of our pages still showed only 20.5¢.
Who it affected
Anyone who used a NetTakeHome mileage or gig tax calculator for miles driven from July 1, 2026. For those miles the deduction came out 3.5¢ a mile too low, which is $35 for every 1,000 miles. For example, 6,000 business miles driven from July to December is a $210 larger deduction than we showed; at a 25% combined tax rate that's about $53 less tax. Our tax estimates for those miles were a little high, never too low. In the standard mileage vs. actual expenses calculator, a close comparison could have leaned toward actual expenses when standard mileage was really the bigger deduction. Miles driven January 1 to June 30 were figured correctly.
Not affected: the offer check, real hourly pay, app comparison and weekly income goal calculators, which use your own car cost per mile rather than the IRS rate.
What we changed
| Where | Change |
|---|---|
| Calculators that take a year of miles: mileage deduction (freelancers), mileage deduction (drivers), standard mileage vs. actual expenses, gig worker taxes, and the calculators in our mileage and gig tax guides | New field: the share of your miles driven July 1 or later (starts at 50%). Those miles use 76¢; the rest use 72.5¢. |
| "Not sure? Work it out" helper | A year of miles is now entered in two parts, January–June at 72.5¢ and July–December at 76¢. Miles for upcoming trips use 76¢. |
| 2026 IRS mileage rate guide and 2026 tax numbers | Both rates for business, medical and moving, with sources and a worked example of using two rates in one year. |
| Driver tax guides, deduction guides, cheat sheets and the offer-check handout | Rates and worked examples updated. Example: 12,000 business miles, half in each part of the year, is now an $8,910 deduction instead of $8,700. |
What to do
If you set aside money or made a quarterly payment based on our numbers, you were slightly over, not under. If you track miles in a spreadsheet or app, check that miles driven from July 1 use 76¢. Keep the date of each trip in your mileage log, since the date now decides the rate.