VaneHow to Keep a Mileage Log for Taxes (2026 Rates)
A mileage log turns business driving into a deduction or a tax-free reimbursement, but only if it records the right things at about the right time. Here is what each tax authority asks for, and the rates for 2026.
Updated 1 October 2026
Not tax advice. This is a plain summary of the official guidance linked at the end, checked on 1 October 2026. Rules have exceptions, so check your own situation with the tax authority or an accountant.
What a log must contain
The details differ, but every authority wants the same core facts for each business trip:
- The date.
- Where you went, the destination or the start and end.
- Why: the business purpose, such as a client visit or a site inspection. "Business" on its own is not enough.
- The distance for that trip.
- Your total distance for the year, business and personal, usually from odometer readings at the start and end of the year, so the business share can be worked out.
Keep it at or near the time. The IRS accepts a log kept weekly as timely, but a log rebuilt at year end from memory is weak evidence, and estimates are not deductible.
2026 rates
| Country | Rate | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| United States (IRS) | 72.5¢ per mile, 1 Jan to 30 Jun 2026 76¢ per mile from 1 Jul 2026 | Standard business mileage rate. The IRS raised it mid-year because of fuel prices. 2025 was 70¢. |
| United Kingdom (HMRC) | 55p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles, then 25p (cars and vans), from 6 April 2026 | Approved mileage allowance payments. It was 45p from 2011 to April 2026. Motorcycles 24p, bicycles 20p. |
| Canada (CRA) | 73¢ per km for the first 5,000 km, then 67¢ (territories 4¢ more) | The reasonable allowance an employer can pay tax-free. Self-employed people deduct actual costs instead. |
| Australia (ATO) | 88c per km for 2025–26; 91c per km for 2026–27 | Cents-per-kilometre method, up to 5,000 business km per car per year. |
| Germany | €0.30 per km driven (business trips); €0.38 per km of one-way distance (commuting) | Business trips in your own car use the flat rate per km driven. The commuter allowance (Entfernungspauschale) is per km of distance from home to work, per working day, and from 2026 is €0.38 from the first km. |
US: the rate depends on the date of the drive, so a 2026 log needs the two halves of the year split. Employees cannot currently deduct unreimbursed mileage on a federal return; the rate matters for self-employed people and for employer reimbursements.
Country notes
United States
IRS Publication 463 asks for the mileage of each business use, the total miles for the year, the date, the destination and the business purpose. You can use the standard rate or actual costs, but for a car you own, you generally have to choose the standard rate in the first year the car is used for business to keep that option later. Commuting from home to a regular workplace is not business mileage.
United Kingdom
If your employer pays less than the approved rate, you can claim tax relief on the difference. If they pay more, the excess is taxable. Keep the date, the journey, its business reason and the miles. Ordinary commuting does not count.
Canada
The CRA lets you keep a full logbook for one 12-month base year, then a three-month sample in later years, as long as the sample's business use is within 10% of the base year.
Australia
The cents-per-km method needs no logbook, only a reasonable way of showing how you worked out the kilometres, up to the 5,000 km cap. Above that, the logbook method needs a 12-week log that stays valid for five years.
Keeping a log with a phone
A phone records the date, start and end places, the route and the distance automatically. That covers everything except the purpose, which only you know. A few habits make the log hold up:
- Tag the purpose the same day, while you remember who you saw.
- Note the odometer on 1 January (or the first day of your tax year) and at the year's end. GPS distance is good evidence for each trip, but authorities ask for total distance, and the car's odometer is the standard record of it.
- Export and keep a copy each month or quarter, in a format your accountant can open (CSV or PDF).
- Expect small differences between GPS and odometer distance. Odometers may read a few percent off by design, and tyre wear changes them. See GPS vs car speedometer.
Sources
- IRS, Standard mileage rates; IR-2025-128 (72.5¢ for 2026); Announcement 2026-11 in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2026-29 (76¢ from 1 July 2026); Publication 463.
- GOV.UK, Travel: mileage and fuel rates and allowances.
- Canada Revenue Agency, Automobile allowance rates and Motor vehicle records.
- ATO, Cents per kilometre method; Determination F2026L00785 (91c for 2026–27).
- Germany, § 9 EStG (Entfernungspauschale).