What does an IRS compliant mileage log need?

What must an IRS compliant mileage log include?

IRS Publication 463 says car expenses must be backed by adequate records showing the amount, time, place and business purpose of each use. For a vehicle, that means the mileage for each business use, the total miles for the year, and the date you started using the car for business, written in "an account book, diary, log, statement of expense, trip sheets, or similar record."

A record kept on a computer counts as an adequate written record, according to Publication 463. That makes a spreadsheet or an app just as valid as a paper logbook, provided every business trip carries the five fields below and the year closes with a total mileage figure.

Source: IRS Publication 463, Recordkeeping chapter.

• Total miles for the year. Write down the odometer reading at the start and at the end of the year. The difference is your total mileage, which the IRS asks for alongside business miles.
• Business use percentage. Business miles divided by total miles. For 8,000 business miles out of 14,000 total, business use is 57.1%. It matters most if you deduct actual expenses or depreciation instead of the standard rate.

IRS mileage log template: what a page should look like

An IRS mileage log template needs one row per business trip and six columns: date, from and to, business purpose, odometer at start, odometer at end, and miles. A free printable mileage log PDF, a spreadsheet or a notebook ruled by hand all work, as long as the columns match what Publication 463 asks for.

A good template also closes each week with a total of business miles and closes the year with the odometer readings from the first and last day. Filling in the odometer columns lets anyone check the miles column, and it ties each trip to the vehicle's actual reading rather than to an estimate.

What makes a mileage log "timely" for the IRS?

A mileage log is timely when it is written at or near the time of the trip. Publication 463 states that "a timely kept record has more value than a statement prepared later when there is generally a lack of accurate recall," and that a log kept on a weekly basis, accounting for use during the week, is considered a timely kept record.

Rebuilding a year of business miles in one sitting before filing is the most common mileage log mistake. A total estimated in April is not tied to specific trips, dates or purposes, so an examiner has nothing to check it against and can reject it. A weekly log is the practical minimum; a daily one is safer.

• Log on the same day. Even a one-line note ("Tue, bank then supplier, 34 mi") beats a perfect entry written months later.
• Write the purpose while you remember it. Distances can be rebuilt from a map; the reason for a trip usually cannot.
• Close each week. A five-minute weekly review catches missing trips while the calendar is still fresh, and a weekly log is the example of a timely record the IRS itself gives.

Can a mileage log cover only part of the year?

Yes, in some cases. Publication 463 allows sampling: you can keep an adequate record for part of the tax year and use it to prove business use for the whole year, but you must show by other evidence that the sampled period is representative of how you used the car all year. A season of unusual driving does not qualify.

Publication 463 also relaxes the purpose column for repeat routes. A sales representative who calls on customers along an established route can record the length of the route once, then the date of each trip at or near the time, plus the total miles for the year, without writing a purpose for every trip.

Which miles count as business miles?

Business miles are miles driven for your trade or business: visiting clients, driving between job sites, picking up supplies, going to a business meeting. Publication 463 treats driving between your home and your main or regular place of work as personal commuting, and says you "can't deduct commuting expenses no matter how far your home is from your regular place of work."

When one drive mixes business and personal stops, log only the business portion. Publication 463 adds that if you do not go directly from one workplace to another for a personal reason, you can deduct no more than the direct trip would have cost.

• Usually business: workplace to a client, one job site to another, work location to a supplier, a business meeting away from your regular workplace.
• Usually personal: home to your regular office, personal stops in the middle of a business trip, weekend errands, home to a part-time job on a day off from your main job.
• Two places of work in one day: the drive from the first workplace to the second is deductible, whether or not the two are for the same employer.
• Temporary work location: if you have a regular workplace away from home, the round trip from home to a temporary location in the same business is deductible. Work expected to last 1 year or less is generally temporary.
• Home office: if your home office qualifies as your principal place of business, trips from home to another work location in the same business are deductible. IRS Publication 587 sets the test.

What is the IRS mileage rate for 2026?

The IRS set two business mileage rates for 2026. According to the IRS standard mileage rates page, the business rate is 72.5 cents per mile from January through June 2026 and 76 cents per mile from July through December 2026. The medical rate rose from 20.5 to 23.5 cents, and the charitable rate stayed at 14 cents.

Because the rate changed mid-year, a 2026 mileage log needs a date on every trip. A log that only says "8,000 business miles" cannot be split between the two rates, while a dated log can. The worked example below uses 5,000 miles in the first half and 3,000 miles in the second.

Source: IRS, Standard mileage rates, checked September 2026. The 2025 business rate was 70 cents per mile.

How to calculate a 2026 mileage deduction with two rates

Multiply the business miles driven in each half of 2026 by that half's rate, then add the two results. With 5,000 business miles from January through June and 3,000 from July through December, the deduction is $3,625 plus $2,280, or $5,905 in total at the standard mileage rate.

Applying one rate to all 8,000 miles gives the wrong answer in both directions: $5,800 at 72.5 cents understates the deduction by $105, and $6,080 at 76 cents overstates it by $175. Only a log with a date on every trip supports the correct split.

Who can deduct business mileage, and when must you choose the standard rate?

Self-employed people deduct car expenses on Schedule C or Schedule F, according to IRS Topic 510. Most employees cannot deduct unreimbursed mileage; Topic 510 lists Armed Forces reservists, qualified performing artists and fee-basis government officials as the employees who claim car expenses on Form 2106.

To use the standard mileage rate for a car you own, you must choose it in the first year the car is available for use in your business; in later years you can switch between the standard rate and actual expenses. For a leased car, the standard rate must be used for the entire lease. The standard rate is not allowed if you use five or more cars for business at the same time.

Paper, spreadsheet or app: which mileage log format works?

All three mileage log formats are acceptable to the IRS if each business trip carries its date, destination, purpose and miles. The practical difference is how likely each format is to be kept up, trip by trip, for twelve months, and how easily it can be totalled and split at the July rate change.

Whatever the format, keep a copy you control. With an app, check that the log can be exported as a CSV or PDF file, because the IRS can ask for it three years after you file.

How long should you keep a mileage log?

Keep a mileage log for at least 3 years from the date you file the return that claims the deduction, according to Publication 463; a return filed early counts as filed on the due date. If you depreciate the car, Publication 463 also requires records of its business use for each year of the recovery period, which can run longer.

Store a copy of each year's log somewhere other than the phone or notebook it was written in, together with the odometer readings from the first and last day of the year. Many owners simply keep mileage records for as long as they own the vehicle.

Key takeaways: IRS compliant mileage log

The rules above, in six lines. This is general information, not tax advice: for your own situation, talk to a tax professional.

• Every business trip needs its date, destination, business purpose and miles; the year needs total miles, proven by odometer readings at its start and end.
• Format is free: paper, spreadsheet or app all qualify. Detail and timeliness are what the IRS checks.
• Log at or near the time: a weekly log is the IRS's own example of a timely record; a year rebuilt from memory is the weak spot in most audits.
• Commuting is not business mileage: home to your regular workplace is personal, however far it is.
• 2026 has two business rates: 72.5 cents per mile through June 30 and 76 cents from July 1, so every entry needs a date.
• Keep the log 3 years from filing, longer if you depreciate the car.

Keep an IRS mileage log on iPhone without writing it by hand

WrenchTime is not a tax product and does not decide what is deductible; it records the raw facts a mileage log is built from. Pair your car stereo over Bluetooth once and each trip records itself with its date, start and end addresses, distance and duration, and adds its distance to the vehicle's odometer with a full audit trail. The automatic mileage tracker guide explains how detection works.

Add a Business tag to a trip and the client or job in its note, and the business purpose is written on the day you drive. At tax time, the per-vehicle PDF export lists each trip's start and end with date and address, distance, tags and notes, with totals, and can be narrowed to the Business tag. Trip history is kept indefinitely unless you shorten it in Settings, Data & iCloud.

CSV and PDF export are included in the free version, which records up to 10 trips per week for 1 vehicle; WrenchTime Pro removes those limits. If you ever switch to the actual expense method, the guide to car maintenance records covers which receipts to keep alongside the log.