If you drive for a living — Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart, Amazon Flex, Grubhub, or any other gig platform — your miles are probably your biggest tax write-off, and the one the IRS checks most closely. The rules aren't hard, but they are picky. The IRS wants you to write down each business drive as it happens, not guess at it later. And 2026 has one extra catch: the rate changed halfway through the year.
Here's what the IRS actually wants from you, how to do the math when two different rates apply in the same year, and how paying for a separate mileage app compares to having mileage tracking built into the app you already use to run your driving business.
The 2026 IRS standard mileage rates (there are two)
2026 is unusual. The IRS raised the business mileage rate mid-year, citing fuel prices — something it has only done a handful of times in the past two decades.
Which rate you use depends on when you drove the mile — not when you got paid, and not when you file your taxes.
So for 2026, you can't just write down one total for the year. You need to know how many miles you drove before July 1 and how many you drove after it, because each pile gets multiplied by a different number.
What is Schedule C, and why does it matter here? If you drive for Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, or any other gig platform, the IRS treats you as self-employed, not an employee — even though the money hits your bank account looking a lot like a paycheck. Schedule C is the form where you report that: what your driving business brought in, and what it cost you to run it. Your mileage deduction is one of the biggest numbers that goes on that form, right alongside your earnings. Get your mileage log right, and it directly lowers the profit the IRS taxes you on — which is also what your self-employment tax is based on. Get it wrong, or skip it, and you're paying tax on money you never actually got to keep.
If you're only interested in the rate change itself and who it affects, we covered that in detail here: The IRS Just Raised the Mileage Deduction Mid-Year.
Which miles actually count
This is where most gig drivers leave money behind, whether you're carrying passengers or dropping off orders. The apps only report the miles tied directly to a trip or delivery, and sometimes the drive to go get it. The IRS lets you count a lot more than that.
Counts as a work mile:
- Driving to a pickup, pickup restaurant, or warehouse after accepting a request
- Miles with a passenger or order in the car
- Driving between requests while the app is on and you're available for work
- Repositioning to a busier zone, airport queue, or restaurant cluster while logged on
- Runs to the car wash, an oil change, or the mechanic
- Trips to buy things for the job — water, phone chargers, mounts, insulated delivery bags
- Driving to your accountant, or to the DMV for something work-related
Doesn't count:
- Any driving with the apps turned off
- Personal errands, even on a day you happened to be out driving
- Driving from home before you go online, and driving home after you go offline — that's treated as a commute, though most drivers go online sitting in the driveway, and from that moment on the miles do count
This gap is bigger than people expect. Your Uber tax summary might say 14,000 miles when your real work total was 19,000–20,000. At 76¢ a mile, those 5,000 missing miles are $3,800 you never wrote off.
What your mileage records need to show
The IRS spells this out in its own guide for drivers, Publication 463. The short version: keep track of your drives as you go, and write down enough that someone else could follow along.
The big mistake to avoid is waiting until tax season and guessing. A number you make up in April from memory is the number one reason drivers lose this write-off if they get audited. The IRS wants records made at the time of the drive, or close to it.
Your mileage log checklist:
- The date you drove
- How many miles that drive was — each drive on its own, not one lump sum for the month
- Where you started and where you ended up, or just the area you covered, like "downtown Austin → airport"
- Why it was for work — a few words is enough: "Uber trip," "driving to pickup," "moved to airport line"
- Your total miles for the whole year, work and personal — the IRS uses this to see what share of your driving was for business
- Your odometer reading on January 1 and December 31
- For 2026 only: your miles split into before July 1 and after July 1
- Keep all of it for at least 3 years after you file, in case the IRS asks
That's a lot to remember for every single drive, which is why almost nobody does it by hand successfully. An app that records your drives by GPS fills in the date, route, distance, and reason for you — you don't have to do anything. A notepad in your glovebox works too, technically. It works right up until the first week you forget to write in it.
How to calculate your 2026 deduction with two rates
Take a driver who logs 21,000 business miles across the year — 9,800 in the first half, 11,200 in the second:
- 9,800 × $0.725 = $7,105
- 11,200 × $0.760 = $8,512
- Total mileage deduction: $15,617
If about 25% of every extra dollar you earn goes to taxes, that write-off puts roughly $3,900 back in your pocket. And splitting the year properly instead of using one average rate is worth about $200 to this driver — small, but it's your money.
One rule that trips people up: you pick one method, not both. If you take the per-mile rate, you can't also write off gas, oil changes, repairs, insurance, or your car's loss in value — those are already included in the per-mile amount. Trying to claim both is a red flag.
What you can still write off on top of the per-mile rate: parking, tolls, the work share of your phone bill, and any business software you pay for.
One more thing worth knowing: if you own your car and you want the freedom to choose the per-mile method in future years, you have to use it in the first year you start using that car for work.
What tracking mileage actually costs you
Here's the part most "best mileage tracker" roundups skip: a dedicated mileage app is a recurring cost against your net earnings, and it only solves one of the four things you need at tax time.
Two things jump out. First, most of these apps' free tiers cut you off way too early — MileIQ stops at 40 drives a month, Everlance at 30, Driversnote at 15 — which is about one week of driving for a full-time driver. Second, several of these mileage-only apps run well over $100 a year and still leave you downloading a spreadsheet, matching it up against earnings from three different apps, and figuring out your quarterly taxes somewhere else.
Mileage tracking is a feature, not a product. It only produces value when it sits next to your income — which is exactly what Solo bundles in at no extra cost.
Why built-in tracking beats a separate mileage app
Solo tracks your miles as part of running your driving business — not as a separate thing you pay extra for.
- Every drive logged and sorted for you, with no monthly limit. No swiping left and right, no getting cut off at 40 trips.
- Your miles sit next to your earnings. Solo connects to your driving accounts, so your write-off is measured against what you actually made — you see what you kept, not just what came in.
- Both 2026 rates handled for you. Miles before and after July 1 get the right rate automatically. No splitting anything by hand.
- A log that's ready for tax time. Date, distance, route, and reason on every drive, ready to hand to your tax preparer.
- One app instead of three. Miles, earnings, and taxes in the same place.
Based on Solo's internal usage data, active drivers track an average of 1,427 work miles a month — about 17,100 a year, or roughly $13,000 in mileage write-offs at 2026 rates. Almost all of that comes from catching the between-ride and repositioning miles the apps never report.
Two things to be clear about that number.
First, that's miles only. It's just tracked miles times the IRS rate — nothing else is in there.
Second, it's not everything you can write off. On top of your miles, you can usually also write off parking and tolls, the work portion of your phone bill, hot bags and phone chargers, snacks and water for passengers, and the apps you pay for to run the business — including a Solo subscription, if you have one. Software you use for work counts as a business expense, so the app that finds your write-offs is itself a write-off.
And your own number will look different depending on how much you drive. Weekends-only? You won't hit 17,100 miles. Full-time at the airport? You may go well past it. Think of $13,000 as the average, not a promise.
FAQ
What is the IRS mileage rate for 2026?
There are two. The IRS standard business mileage rate is 72.5¢ per mile for January 1 through June 30, 2026, and 76¢ per mile for July 1 through December 31, 2026, following a mid-year increase. The rate you use depends on when the mile was driven.
How do I track mileage for taxes as a gig worker?
Write down each drive as it happens: the date, how far you went, where you started and ended, and why it was for work. You'll also need your total miles for the year and your odometer reading on January 1 and December 31. The easiest way is an app that records your drives by GPS so you don't have to think about it. Solo's Mileage Tracker does this automatically, so your log builds itself while you drive instead of you piecing it together at tax time.
What's the best free mileage tracker app for gig drivers?
Most "free" mileage apps limit how many drives they'll track for you — MileIQ stops at 40 a month, Everlance at 30, Driversnote at 15 — and a full-time Uber or Lyft driver blows through that in days. Solo includes uncapped automatic mileage tracking with no separate mileage subscription, alongside earnings and tax tools. We compared the free tiers in depth in What's the Best Mileage Tracker App for Gig Drivers?
Can I deduct miles Uber didn't report?
Yes — as long as they were work miles and you wrote them down. Uber and Lyft usually only report miles with a passenger in the car, and sometimes the drive to pick them up. Miles you drive while logged on and waiting, moving to a busier area, or heading to the mechanic count too. But Uber has no record of those, so you're the only one who can prove them. That's exactly why you want your own log.
Can I claim mileage and gas at the same time?
No. The per-mile rate already covers gas, maintenance, insurance, and your car losing value. You pick one method for the year: the per-mile rate, or adding up your real car costs. Parking, tolls, and the work share of your phone bill can be claimed on top of the per-mile rate either way.
Do I need to keep my mileage log after I file?
Yes — hang onto it for at least three years after you file. That's roughly how far back the IRS can go when reviewing a return. If your app saves your history for you, that's already handled.
Switch to Solo
If you're paying over $100 a year for a mileage app that has no idea what you earned, you're paying for a spreadsheet with GPS. Solo tracks every work mile on its own, applies both 2026 rates for you, and shows your write-off right next to what you actually made — so you know what you really earn per hour, not just what came in before expenses.
