Mileage · rates of IRS 2026
Medical and charity mileage for 2026
Drives to doctors and for a charity are priced at their own IRS rates, and each comes with a condition that decides whether any of it is deductible.
Published by Radif Partners · Rules and data · Editorial policy
Medical costs you can deduct
$72
Driving $322 + other $5,000 − 7.5% of AGI ($5,250)
| Medical driving | $322 |
| Total medical costs | $5,322 |
| Floor: 7.5% of AGI | $5,250 |
IRS Publication 502: only costs above the floor count, and only when you itemize. How this is calculated.
Driving to medical care is worth 20.5 cents a mile through June 30, 2026 and 23.5 cents from July 1, when the IRS raised it along with the business rate. It only lowers your tax if you itemize and your total medical costs, driving included, exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. With an AGI of $70,000, the first $5,250 of medical costs gives nothing: 1,200 medical miles after July 1 plus $40 of parking and $5,000 of other bills come to $5,322, so $72 is deductible. Volunteer driving for a qualified charity is valued at 14 cents a mile, a rate written into the tax code that did not move in July, and it is deductible as a charitable gift for those who itemize. Military members moving under orders use the medical rate. The calculator above handles both purposes.
Medical miles: what qualifies
Publication 502 counts transportation "primarily for, and essential to, medical care": trips to a doctor, a hospital, a pharmacy to pick up prescriptions, physical therapy, or a parent driving a child to treatment. You may use the standard medical rate or actual gas and oil costs, but not depreciation, insurance or general repairs. Parking fees and tolls are added at cost either way. A trip to another city for treatment counts too, bus, train or plane fares included, when the trip is primarily for and essential to the care.
Keep the same kind of record as for business driving: date, provider, purpose and miles, with the parking receipts. Health insurance or a health savings account that paid you back for a trip removes it from the deduction, since only costs you bore yourself count.
The rate itself is the variable-cost part of the IRS car cost study, which is why it is far below the business rate: 23.5 cents against 76 cents since July 1, 2026 (Announcement 2026-11). Miles driven before July 1 stay at 20.5 cents.
The 7.5% wall
Most people never deduct a medical mile, because the floor is high and the standard deduction is larger than their itemized deductions. The floor applies to the total of medical costs: insurance premiums paid with after-tax money, co-pays, dental work, glasses, long-term care and travel all count together. A year with surgery, a hospital stay far from home or a child in regular therapy is the year a mileage log pays off. Lodging near a hospital for treatment can also count, up to $50 a night per person under Publication 502, but meals generally do not.
What a mile is worth in 2026
Value from July 1, 2026
$380
| 500 mi × $0.76 (from July 1) | $380 |
| 500 mi × $0.725 (Jan. 1 to June 30) | $362.50 |
| Difference | $17.50 |
Charity miles: the 14-cent rate
The charitable rate comes from section 170(i) of the Internal Revenue Code, not from a cost study, so only Congress can change it, and the July increase left it at 14 cents. It covers driving you do while donating services to a qualified organization: delivering meals, transporting volunteers, running errands for a food bank. Publication 526 lets you deduct actual gas and oil instead if that is higher, plus parking and tolls, but never your time, depreciation or insurance. A charity that reimburses you removes the deduction for the reimbursed part.
Keep a written record of each volunteer drive: date, organization, purpose and miles. For a single contribution of $250 or more, including unreimbursed car costs, you also need a written acknowledgment from the organization describing the services you provided.
Military moves
The moving rate equals the medical rate: 23.5 cents a mile from July 1, 2026. Since 2018 only active-duty members of the armed forces moving under military orders to a permanent change of station could deduct moving costs; Notice 2026-10 adds certain members of the intelligence community who relocate after December 31, 2025. Everyone else gets no moving deduction for a job move. For business driving, see the IRS mileage rate page; for a log, the mileage log.