IRS Mileage Log
Enter your business trips and get a log with the date, purpose and miles Publication 463 expects, priced at the 2026 standard rate. Download it as CSV. Nothing is uploaded, and nothing is filled in for you.
| Date | Business purpose | From | To | Miles | Deduction | Remove |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | ||||||
| - | ||||||
| - |
0 business miles across 0 trips in 2026
Typing this out once a year is the part that fails. Taxottic writes the log as you drive, by GPS, with the date, the route and a map already attached, so the record exists before anyone asks for it.
Keep my log automatically, free →What the IRS actually asks for
Three things per trip: the date, the business purpose, and the miles. There is no required format, no official form, and no need to file the log with your return. What matters is that it exists, that it is accurate, and that it was made at or near the time of the trip.
That last word is the one that decides cases. Contemporaneous means written down when it happened. A year-end reconstruction from a calendar and a fuel card is the substantiation most likely to be challenged, and it is also the most common. Each trip is priced at the rate in force on its own date: for 2026 that is 72.5 cents per mile through June 30 and 76 cents from July 1.
Where logs are usually weak
- Purpose says nothing. “Work” or “errands” restates that the trip was for business without identifying it. Name the client, the site, or the task.
- Commuting is included. Home to a regular workplace is personal, however early you leave. Between worksites, to a client, or to a temporary location during the day does count.
- Round numbers everywhere. A log where every trip is exactly 20 miles reads as an estimate, because it is one.
- One rate for the whole year. In a split-rate year the rate depends on when you drove. This tool applies each trip’s own date.
Common questions
- What does the IRS require in a mileage log?
- For each business trip: the date, the business purpose, and the mileage. Publication 463 asks for records made at or near the time of the trip, which is why a contemporaneous log carries far more weight than a figure reconstructed later. Recording where you went as well makes the entry easier to defend.
- Does a reconstructed mileage log count?
- It is materially weaker. The standard is a record made at or near the time of the trip, so a total assembled at year end from memory, a calendar and a fuel card is the kind of substantiation that gets challenged. Rebuild what you genuinely can from contemporaneous evidence, and keep a proper log going forward.
- Do I need to record odometer readings?
- The requirement is the mileage for each business trip, not a start and end odometer reading per trip. You do need your total mileage for the year for Form 4562 or Schedule C, so noting the odometer at the start and end of the year is worth doing.
- Is a mileage app acceptable to the IRS?
- Yes. There is no required format. What matters is that the record is timely, complete and accurate, which is exactly what an automatic GPS log produces, and it is contemporaneous by construction rather than by discipline.
- How long should I keep it?
- Keep it as long as the return it supports can be examined, which is generally three years from filing, and longer in some circumstances. Store it with that year's records rather than on the phone that produced it.
Working out what the miles are worth instead? Mileage deduction calculator. Reimbursing staff rather than claiming your own? Employee mileage reimbursement calculator. The longer explanation lives in the mileage deduction guide.
This tool is for organising your own records and is not tax advice. It formats and totals what you enter; it does not verify that a trip was deductible. See IRS Publication 463 for the substantiation rules, and confirm your situation with a licensed CPA.