What Was the IRS Standard Mileage Rate in Each Year From 2018 to 2026?

By SSgt Christian Horton

Page updated: October 16, 2026 · Official guidance last changed: July 28, 2026

The IRS standard mileage rate is the limit on car expenses in the reservist travel deduction. The rate is not the same every year, and in two years it changed in the middle of the year. This page lists the business rate for 2018 through 2026, names the IRS document that set each one, and then explains why this deduction is still available when most employee expenses are not.

The business rate, year by year

Every row below is the “business” rate, the one that applies to the car miles in a reservist’s travel deduction. Each figure appears twice in our sources, once in the IRS notice that announced it and once in the IRS table of standard mileage rates, and the two agree in all eleven rows.

For 2018 the IRS table labels the row with the 2017 tax-law changes rather than a date range, and the notice itself is the dated source. If you use any older year to amend a return, use the row for the year of the trip, not the current one.

The two mid-year changes

Most years have a single rate. Two do not. In 2022 the IRS revised the business rate to 62.5 cents for expenses on or after July 1, and said the notice rates continue to apply before that date. It gave the reason as recent increases in the price of fuel.

The jump was 4.0 cents a mile, from 58.5 to 62.5 (computed from the two rows above).

The second change is this year. Announcement 2026-11, published in IRB 2026-29 dated July 13, 2026, revises the 2026 business rate to 76 cents a mile for expenses paid or incurred on or after July 1, 2026. The rate in Notice 2026-10 continues to apply to expenses before that date.

That is 3.5 cents more than the 72.5 cents that applied from January 1 to June 30, and 6 cents more than the 2025 rate of 70 cents (both computed from the table).

In practice a 2026 return has two rates. A drill weekend on June 27 is figured at 72.5 cents and one on July 11 at 76 cents. Our worked example shows the arithmetic with made-up trips. The IRS wording ties the rate to when the expense is paid or incurred, and the notices we reviewed do not say what to do with a single trip that crosses June 30 into July 1, so we do not guess.

What the rate covers, and what it does not

Using the standard mileage rate for a year means you cannot also deduct actual car expenses for that year. The rate stands in for depreciation, lease payments, maintenance and repairs, gasoline, oil, insurance and registration fees. For the reservist adjustment, Publication 463 words the limit as the standard mileage rate for car expenses; the IRS publications we reviewed say nothing further about actual car costs for reservists.

Business-related parking fees and tolls are the exception: they can be deducted in addition to the rate. Parking where you work is commuting and does not count.

Why this deduction survived when most employee expenses did not

From 2018 through 2025, the tax code disallowed “miscellaneous itemized deductions,” and Publication 463 says unreimbursed employee travel can no longer be claimed that way because of the suspension. The statute says no miscellaneous itemized deduction is allowed for tax years beginning after December 31, 2017 and before January 1, 2026, and defines the term as the itemized deductions other than a listed set.

Section 62(a)(2)(E) lets a member of a reserve component deduct section 162 travel expenses, at rates not above the federal-employee travel rates (including per diem), for any period more than 100 miles away from home in connection with the services. That deduction is taken in arriving at adjusted gross income, which section 62(a) defines as gross income minus a list of deductions that includes this one.

The 2025 edition of Publication 463 puts the result plainly: deductions that are deductible in determining adjusted gross income are not suspended, and Armed Forces reservists are one of the groups named. They report the unreimbursed travel as an adjustment on Schedule 1, line 12. The instructions for Form 2106 say the same thing from the form side: the form may be used only by Armed Forces reservists, qualified performing artists, fee-basis government officials and employees with impairment-related work expenses.

Section 162(p) adds one more piece. It treats a reserve-component member as away from home, for the trade-or-business rule, for any period they are away from home in connection with the service.

Is the suspension over in 2026?

No. The 2018 suspension was written to end after 2025, but Public Law 119-21 (the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, dated July 4, 2025) has a section 70110 titled “Termination of miscellaneous itemized deductions other than educator expenses.” It applies to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025. IRS Notice 2026-10 describes the effect: section 70110 made permanent the disallowance of miscellaneous itemized deductions subject to the two-percent floor.

The same notice adds a warning for anyone tempted to use the rate elsewhere: the business rate cannot be used to claim an itemized deduction for unreimbursed employee travel, except certain educator expenses. The reservist adjustment is a different route, and Publication 463 (2025 edition) limits it to the federal per diem rate and the standard mileage rate, plus parking, ferry fees and tolls.

One thing none of these IRS and statute documents tell us is why Congress kept the reservist adjustment. We have found no stated rationale in the sources we reviewed, so we do not offer one. What Publication 463 does say is that deductions allowed in determining adjusted gross income are not suspended.

Sources

• IRS Notice 2018-03
• IRS Notice 2019-02
• IRS Notice 2020-05
• IRS Notice 2021-02
• IRS Notice 2022-03
• IRS Announcement 2022-13
• IRS Notice 2023-03
• IRS Notice 2024-08
• IRS Notice 2025-5
• IRS Notice 2026-10
• Internal Revenue Bulletin 2026-29 (Announcement 2026-11)
• IRS, Standard mileage rates
• IRS Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses
• IRS Instructions for Form 2106
• 26 U.S.C. 62 (govinfo.gov)
• 26 U.S.C. 162 (govinfo.gov)
• 26 U.S.C. 67 (govinfo.gov)
• Public Law 119-21, One Big Beautiful Bill Act (govinfo.gov)

Related guides

• A Worked Example: One Drilling Year
• Lodging and Meals: How the Per Diem Cap Works
• Mileage Log Requirements
• Form 2106 to Schedule 1
• Which Trips Count
• The 100-Mile Rule
• Airfare, Rental Cars and Parking
• Records to Keep
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Glossary
• All guides

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