How to log mileage for taxes: what the IRS asks you to record

Short answer: Keep a written record made at or near the time of each trip ^[1]. For car expenses, IRS Publication 463 lists the mileage for each business use and the total miles for the year, the date of each use, your business destination and the business purpose ^[1]. A record prepared on a computer is considered an adequate record ^[1].

What to write down

• Miles: the mileage for each business use and the total miles for the year ^[1].
• Time: the date you used the car for business ^[1].
• Place: your business destination ^[1].
• Purpose: the business purpose of the trip ^[1].
• For a claim based on actual costs, also the cost of the car and any improvements and the date you started using it for business ^[1].

When to write it

Record each trip at or near the time it happens and support it with documentary evidence; a timely kept record has more value than a statement prepared later ^[1].

An account book, diary, log, trip sheet or similar record will do. You can keep an adequate record for part of the year if you can show that the period is representative of the whole year ^[1].

The rate

For 2025 the standard mileage rate for business use of a car is 70 cents a mile ^[1]. That figure is for 2025; use the rate for the year you are claiming.

Keeping the log on your phone

This app is a RECORD, not tax advice. Mileage rates, brackets and the start of a tax year are set by your tax authority and change; no rate is used until you save it. Check the current rate with your tax authority or your accountant before you file.

Mileage & Tax Log: Deduction — Every business mile logged, and a mileage report you can export.

• Log a trip in one line: start, end and the distance from your odometer; the mileage calculator uses the rate you saved
• US: fills in the IRS mileage rate, incl. the 1 July 2026 change, for you to check
• Tiered rates (one rate up to a yearly distance, another above)
• Mark it business, personal, medical, charity or moving, or leave it unmarked; medical, charity and moving trips use only the rate you save for them and stay out of the business deduction
• Automatic mileage tracking can record the start, the end and the distance for you
• Or record a single trip yourself: tap Record one trip when you set off and Stop when you arrive
• A working-hours rule marks trips that fall entirely inside your hours as business, with a badge; a trip only partly inside stays unmarked for you to decide
• Edit a trip later (time, distance, purpose, notes, client or job, load), split one drive into two, or change many trips at once; a measured distance you correct stays on the report next to yours
• Several vehicles: every trip belongs to one, and the report can be made per vehicle or per client or job
• Odometer readings: how far the vehicle went by its odometer, how much of that is in your log, and the business share
• Frequent trips: save a regular drive once and fill the form with one tap; no address is ever stored
• Your own categories (site visit, supplies run, hospital...), each tied to one trip type; the report can show totals by category or cover one category
• Search all your trips by what you typed and filter by type, category, vehicle, client, source and dates
• A quick mileage calculator: a distance, or two odometer readings, times a rate, without saving a trip
• An optional tax set-aside estimate: type your own rate and the period's earnings; the period's mileage deduction comes off first
• Month-by-month and year-by-year summaries with bar charts
• Reminders you set: to create and send your report (monthly, quarterly or yearly, from your own tax year) and to log a day's trips at a time you pick
• Import your history from another mileage app: a CSV export or a GPX track; addresses are not imported and GPX points only measure the length
• Help and support inside the app: quick answers that work offline
• Every trip carries its date, so the year adds up by itself
• Export the period as a PDF, a CSV or an Excel (.xlsx) file, or send any of them straight to your accountant from the app; the report shows your business-use percentage
• No account, no cloud, no sync: nothing leaves the phone unless you send a report yourself

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Sources

1. IRS Publication 463 (2025), Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses (Internal Revenue Service) — https://www.irs.gov/publications/p463 (accessed 2026-10-22)

Mileage & Tax Log: Deduction is an independent app. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to any institution, authority, brand or company mentioned in it.