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Mileage Log for Gig Drivers: What the IRS Requires in 2026
Record the date, the miles for each business use, the business purpose, and the total miles driven for the year, and make the entries at or near the time (a weekly log counts). In 2026 keep two subtotals: miles through June 30 are worth 72.5 cents each, and miles from July 1 are worth 76 cents.
The mileage deduction is usually the largest deduction a driver has, which is exactly why it gets examined. A log does not have to be fancy; it has to be consistent, contemporaneous, and complete enough that a stranger could follow it. This guide shows what that means in practice. To see what your miles are worth, use the 1099 gig tax calculator or run a single shift through the delivery offer profit calculator.
What the IRS asks you to prove
Publication 463's table of records for transportation expenses lists these elements for car use:
- The date of each business use of the car.
- The mileage for each business use.
- The business purpose. For deliveries, the publication says the nature of your work provides circumstantial evidence of business use, and that invoices of deliveries establish when you used the car for business. You do not need a long written explanation for every drop.
- The total miles for the year, and the date you started using the car for business.
The timing rule is gentler than many drivers fear. Pub 463 says a log kept on a weekly basis that accounts for the week's use is a timely kept record. It also allows you to keep an adequate record for part of the year and use it to prove business use for the entire year, but only if you can show by other evidence that those periods are representative. Do not lean on that exception without a reason; a full-year log is safer. A single record can also cover an uninterrupted round trip, and minimal personal use, such as a stop for lunch between business stops, does not break it.
Which miles count
| Trip | Treatment |
|---|---|
| Restaurant or store to customer, and between orders while you are working | Business. Going from one customer or work stop to another is deductible, per Pub 463. |
| Home to your first pickup, and your last drop back home | Gray area. Pub 463 treats home to the first business contact as commuting for someone with no regular office. The IRS materials we reviewed do not address app dispatch directly. |
| Errands, groceries, trips with the car off the app | Personal. Not deductible. |
| Parking at a place you regularly work | Commuting. Parking and tolls on actual business stops can be deducted separately from the mileage rate. |
Log the gray-area miles in their own column. That keeps your business total clean and leaves the decision about the commute miles to you and your tax professional, with the facts written down. The deductions guide explains the commuting rule in full.
Tracking the 2026 split rate
For 2026 the IRS set 72.5 cents per mile in Notice 2026-10, then raised the business rate to 76 cents for expenses paid or incurred on or after July 1, 2026 in Announcement 2026-11, citing fuel prices. The two rates apply to the miles you drive in each period, so your log needs a hard break on July 1.
- Photograph the odometer on January 1 (or the day you started) and again on July 1, and on December 31.
- In your log, add a running subtotal for January 1 to June 30 and a second one for July 1 to December 31.
- At year end, multiply the first subtotal by 72.5 cents and the second by 76 cents, then add them. That sum is your car deduction on Schedule C line 9.
Here is how it works out for a driver with 9,000 business miles in the first half and 10,000 in the second, run through the same engine as our calculators: 9,000 × 72.5 cents is $6,525.00, and 10,000 × 76 cents is $7,600.00, for a total of $14,125.00. A driver who applied 72.5 cents to all 19,000 miles would deduct $13,775.00, which is $350.00 too little and about $80.68 too much federal tax at the profile in our standard example. Each mile in the second half is worth 3.5 cents more than a first-half mile, so 1,000 miles is $725 in June and $760 in July.
App, spreadsheet, or paper
| Method | Strength | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| GPS mileage app | Records trips automatically with date and distance | You still have to classify business, commute, and personal miles. Export it regularly. |
| Spreadsheet | Easy totals by period, filter by category | Needs a habit of weekly entry from odometer photos |
| Paper notebook | Hard to question as made at the time | Easy to lose; photograph pages monthly |
The IRS does not name an approved method. Pub 463 includes a sample daily log, "Daily Business Mileage and Expense Log," with odometer readings, destination, and purpose, which is a fine template if you prefer paper. Whatever you use, back it up outside the phone, and keep it for 3 years from the filing date of the return.
Platform mileage reports
Some delivery and rideshare apps offer a downloadable mileage summary. It is a useful cross-check, but it only covers what the platform tracks. Before relying on it, read its definition: does it include the drive to the first pickup, or time online without an order? Anything it leaves out has to be covered by your own log.
The stakes are concrete. If a log shows 19,000 business miles and a report shows only 15,500, the 3,500-mile gap (we assumed 1,500 in the first half and 2,000 in the second for this illustration) is worth $2,607.50 of deduction, or about $601.06 of federal tax in our standard example. Those numbers are hypothetical; check your own report to see if there is any gap at all.
If you did not keep a log
Start now. A log kept from today forward is still a timely record for the rest of the year. For the miles already driven, the rules allow you to support missing elements with your own written or oral statement plus other evidence, and the IRS says delivery invoices establish dates. Gather the earnings history, which lists every order and date, and rebuild the date and distance for each. The IRS repeats that you cannot deduct estimated amounts, so rebuild from evidence, not memory. Pub 463 allows a full reconstruction of records only when they were lost for reasons beyond your control, such as fire or flood.
Schedule C Part IV asks for your business, commuting, and other miles and whether you have written evidence. The Schedule C walkthrough shows where those numbers go. The July 1 change is also on the tax calendar. General information for tax year 2026, not tax advice.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to write in my log every day?
No. Publication 463 says you do not need to write down the elements of every trip on the day it happens. If you keep a log on a weekly basis that accounts for use during the week, the IRS considers it a timely kept record. A record made at or near the time has more value than a statement prepared later.
Can I estimate my miles at tax time?
No. Pub 463 states that you cannot deduct amounts that you approximate or estimate. If your records are incomplete, you must support each element with your own written or oral statement containing specific information and other supporting evidence, such as delivery records.
Does the July 1 rate change affect the miles I drove in June?
No. The 76-cent rate applies to expenses paid or incurred on or after July 1, 2026, and earlier expenses stay at 72.5 cents. A mile driven on June 30 is worth 72.5 cents and a mile driven on July 1 is worth 76 cents.
What if my platform mileage report says fewer miles than my own log?
Your return can be based on your own records as long as they are adequate and timely. Check what the platform report includes, for example whether it counts the drive to the first pickup. Where your log includes miles the report does not, note what they were so you can explain the difference.
How long do I keep the log?
Pub 463 says to keep records that support a deduction for 3 years from the date you file the return that claims it.
Do I need to record the total miles on the car for the year?
Yes. Pub 463 lists total miles for the year as one of the car elements you need, and Schedule C Part IV asks for business, commuting, and other miles. Photograph the odometer on January 1, on July 1, and on December 31 to anchor those totals.
Sources
- IRS, Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses (2025), chapters 4 and 5: records, timely kept, sampling, business purpose, commuting, Table 5-2 sample log
- IRS, Internal Revenue Bulletin 2026-29, Announcement 2026-11: 76 cents effective July 1, 2026
- IRS, Notice 2026-10: 72.5 cents standard mileage rate for 2026
- IRS, Standard mileage rates
- IRS, Schedule C (2026 draft): Part IV vehicle information