Mileage Log Template: IRS Rules and What to Record

Quick answer: A mileage log template is a record of every business trip you drive. For IRS purposes, log the date, destination, business purpose and miles for each trip, plus total miles for the year. For 2026, the IRS business rate is 72.5 cents per mile through June 30 and 76 cents from July 1.

Vehicle costs are one of the most common deductions for freelancers and small business owners, and one of the most commonly challenged. The reason is simple: without a log, there is no proof of which miles were business and which were personal. A good log takes a minute per trip and can support a deduction or reimbursement worth thousands. This guide explains what the IRS expects you to record, the 2026 rates, how UK mileage allowance works, a worked example with the arithmetic, and the mistakes that make logs fail.

What is a mileage log?

A mileage log is a running record of business use of a vehicle. Each entry shows when you drove, where you went, why, and how far. At year end, the log gives you total business miles and total miles, which you need either to claim the standard mileage rate or to work out the business percentage of actual car expenses.

Employees use the same records to support mileage reimbursement claims on an expense report template. Self-employed people use them to support deductions on their tax return.

What the IRS requires you to record

IRS Publication 463 describes the records needed to prove car expenses. For business mileage, adequate records include:

• The mileage for each business use of the car.
• The total miles driven during the year (business and personal).
• The date of each business use.
• The business destination.
• The business purpose of each trip.

The publication also stresses timing: you should record the details at or near the time of the trip, because a timely record has more value than a statement prepared later. If you claim actual expenses instead of the standard rate, you also need receipts for fuel, repairs, insurance and other car costs, plus records of the car's cost and the date you started using it for business.

There is one useful shortcut. You can keep an adequate record for part of the year and use it to prove business use for the whole year, as long as you can show that the sample period is representative. A salesperson with the same weekly route, for example, may be able to rely on a representative sample. If your driving is irregular, log every trip.

What to include in a mileage log template

Column	Example entry	Notes
Date	2026-07-14	One row per trip, or per stop on a multi-stop day
Start location	Office, 210 Main St	Use a consistent name for regular places
Destination	Client site, Lakeview Dental	Name the client or site, not just a city
Business purpose	Install and test network equipment	Specific enough that a stranger understands it
Odometer start	48,215	Optional if you use GPS distance, but strong evidence
Odometer end	48,251	End minus start gives the trip miles
Business miles	36	Round trip unless you log each leg separately
Parking and tolls	$12.00	Deductible separately from the standard rate
Vehicle	2022 sedan, plate ABC-1234	Needed if you use more than one vehicle

Add a year-start and year-end odometer reading at the top of your mileage log template. Those two numbers give you total miles for the year, which the IRS asks for and which you need to calculate the business-use percentage.

IRS standard mileage rates for 2026

The standard mileage rate is an optional per-mile amount that replaces tracking actual fuel, repairs, insurance and depreciation. In 2026 the IRS changed the rates partway through the year. According to the IRS standard mileage rates page:

Purpose	Jan 1 to Jun 30, 2026	Jul 1 to Dec 31, 2026
Business	72.5 cents per mile	76 cents per mile
Medical and military moving	20.5 cents per mile	23.5 cents per mile
Charitable service	14 cents per mile	14 cents per mile

The mid-year change, made by IRS Announcement 2026-11, applies to miles driven on or after July 1, 2026. That makes the date column in your log more important than usual: you need to split 2026 business miles into the two periods. Rates for 2027 will be announced separately, so check the IRS page before you use a new rate.

A few other rules apply. If you own the car and want to use the standard rate, you generally must choose it in the first year the car is used for business. You cannot use the standard rate if you operate five or more cars at the same time, as in a fleet. Business parking fees and tolls can be deducted in addition to the standard rate.

Worked example: a year of business miles

These figures are illustrative. A self-employed IT technician drives 9,000 miles in 2026. Her mileage log template shows the following business miles, split at July 1:

• January 1 to June 30: 1,840 business miles x $0.725 = $1,334.00.
• July 1 to December 31: 2,160 business miles x $0.76 = $1,641.60.
• Total business miles: 1,840 + 2,160 = 4,000.
• Standard mileage amount: $1,334.00 + $1,641.60 = $2,975.60.
• Plus business parking and tolls from the log: $186.00.
• Total vehicle deduction under the standard method: $2,975.60 + $186.00 = $3,161.60.

Her business-use percentage is 4,000 / 9,000 = 44.4%. If she used the actual expense method instead, she would apply that percentage to her total car costs. For example, $9,500 of actual costs (fuel, insurance, repairs and depreciation) x 44.4% would be about $4,218. Which method is better depends on the vehicle and the year, and the first-year choice can limit later options, so it is worth discussing with a tax preparer.

A sole proprietor would generally report these car expenses on Schedule C; our guide to Schedule C for freelancers shows where they go. For a broader list of deductible costs, see self-employed tax deductions.

UK mileage rates and logs

In the UK, HMRC publishes approved mileage allowance payment (AMAP) rates. According to GOV.UK's travel and mileage rates page, the rates from the 2026 to 2027 tax year are:

• Cars and vans: 55p per business mile for the first 10,000 miles in the tax year, then 25p per mile. The first-10,000-mile rate was 45p from 2011 to 2026.
• Motorcycles: 24p per mile.
• Bicycles: 20p per mile.
• Passenger payments: 5p per passenger per business mile for carrying fellow employees on work journeys.

Employers can pay up to these amounts tax-free. If an employer pays less, the employee may be able to claim tax relief on the difference. Illustrative example: an employee drives 12,000 business miles in 2026 to 2027. The approved amount is (10,000 x £0.55) + (2,000 x £0.25) = £5,500 + £500 = £6,000. If the employer pays 35p for every mile, that is 12,000 x £0.35 = £4,200, and the employee could claim relief on £6,000 - £4,200 = £1,800. Relief reduces taxable income; it is not a £1,800 refund.

Self-employed people in the UK can use simplified expenses at the same mileage rates instead of actual vehicle costs, subject to conditions. Either way, HMRC expects records of business journeys, so the same log columns work. You will use the totals on your Self Assessment tax return. Because rates change, check GOV.UK before each tax year.

Business miles vs commuting

The most common reason logs are cut back on review is commuting. Travel between home and your regular workplace is personal, not business. Typical business trips include:

• Driving from your office or regular workplace to a client, supplier or job site.
• Driving between two work locations on the same day.
• Trips to the bank, post office or a supplier for business errands.
• Travel to a temporary work location, within the limits set by tax rules.

If your home is your principal place of business, trips from home to clients may count as business miles. The detailed rules are in IRS Publication 463 and HMRC guidance; check them before treating home-based trips as business.

Paper, spreadsheet or app: choosing a mileage log template

The IRS and HMRC care about what you record, not the format. Pick the option you will actually keep up with.

• Paper logbook. A notebook in the glove box is cheap and needs no battery. The downside is that totals must be added up by hand and a lost book means lost records. Photograph the pages monthly.
• Spreadsheet. A spreadsheet mileage log template can calculate trip miles from odometer readings, total each month and multiply by the right rate for each period. Add a data-validation list for regular destinations to save typing. Back it up to cloud storage.
• GPS app. Apps record distance automatically and let you classify each trip as business or personal. They save the most time, but you still need to add a business purpose to each trip, and you should export the log at year end so you are not dependent on a subscription.

Whichever format you choose, set up the mileage log template on January 1 (or April 6 for the UK tax year) with the starting odometer reading, and review it monthly so gaps are caught while you still remember the trips.

Mileage log checklist

• Year-start and year-end odometer readings recorded.
• One entry per trip with date, start, destination, purpose and miles.
• Entries made at or near the time of each trip.
• Commuting excluded.
• 2026 US miles split at July 1 for the two business rates.
• UK miles tracked against the 10,000-mile threshold for the tax year.
• Parking and tolls recorded with receipts.
• Separate logs (or a vehicle column) for each car.
• Annual totals calculated and stored with your tax records.

Common mistakes

• Logging at year end. A reconstructed log of round numbers is easy to challenge. Log weekly at least.
• Vague purposes. "Business" or "meeting" is not enough. Name the client or task.
• Claiming the commute. Home to your regular office is personal, even with calls on the way.
• Using one rate for all of 2026. Business miles before July 1 use 72.5 cents; miles from July 1 use 76 cents.
• Double counting. Claiming the standard rate and also deducting fuel or repairs is not allowed.
• No total-miles figure. Without total miles you cannot show the business-use percentage.
• Using the old UK rate. For 2026 to 2027, the first-10,000-mile rate is 55p, not 45p.

Billing clients for mileage

If a contract lets you charge clients for travel, your mileage log is the evidence behind that charge. Add a line such as "Travel, 36 miles at $0.76" to your invoice; our guide to invoicing reimbursable expenses explains how to present it. The free invoice generator lets you add mileage as a line item with quantity and rate, so the arithmetic is shown to the client, and download the invoice as a PDF. It does not track mileage, so keep your log in a spreadsheet or app. A timesheet template can sit alongside the log if you also bill travel time. For other record-keeping formats, browse our design and template guides.