Charitable and Medical Mileage Rates: The Other 2026 Deductions

Most people know the business mileage rate, but the IRS actually sets three. For 2026 they are 72.5 cents per mile for business, 20.5 cents per mile for medical or moving, and 14 cents per mile for charitable driving. The medical and charitable rates are smaller and come with their own rules, but if you drive for your health or for a cause, those miles are worth claiming. Here's how each one works.

Medical mileage: 20.5 cents per mile

You can deduct miles driven for medical care, such as trips to doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, physical therapy, or to pick up prescriptions, at 20.5 cents per mile in 2026. The catches:

• You have to itemize deductions (not take the standard deduction).
• Medical mileage is added to your other medical expenses, and the total is only deductible to the extent it exceeds 7.5% of your adjusted gross income.

So medical mileage helps most in a year with significant medical costs. Keep a log of the date, destination, purpose, and miles for each medical trip.

Charitable mileage: 14 cents per mile

If you use your car while volunteering for a qualified charitable organization, you can deduct those miles at 14 cents per mile. This rate is set by statute and doesn't change with inflation. To claim it:

• You must itemize.
• The driving has to be in genuine service of the charity (delivering meals, transporting supplies, driving to a volunteer site), not just your commute to volunteer.
• You can deduct the mileage or your actual gas and oil costs, but not general car expenses like insurance or depreciation, and never the value of your time.

Moving mileage: 20.5 cents, but only for the military

The moving-expense deduction was suspended for most taxpayers, so the 20.5-cent moving rate now applies almost entirely to active-duty military members moving under orders. If that's not you, the moving rate generally won't come into play.

The business rate is still where the money is

For most working drivers, the 72.5-cent business rate is the one that matters, because it applies to far more miles and doesn't require you to itemize. See the 2026 IRS mileage rate explained and how much you can deduct for mileage.

One log, every kind of mile

Whether your miles are business, medical, or charitable, the IRS wants the same thing: a contemporaneous record of the date, destination, purpose, and distance. Smart Miles tracks every drive automatically and lets you classify each one, so all three kinds of deductible miles are captured cleanly. Estimate your deduction with the 1099 tax calculator.