Mileage Records for Work Trucks and Vans: What the IRS Asks For

IRS standard mileage rates (business use)

Rates from the IRS Standard Mileage Rates page, checked October 30, 2026.

Two methods: standard rate or actual expenses

IRS Topic 510 describes two ways to figure a business vehicle deduction:

• Standard mileage rate: business miles times the IRS rate. Parking fees and tolls for business can be deducted separately.
• Actual expenses: the business share of costs such as gas, oil, repairs, insurance, registration, lease payments and depreciation.

Some rules from Topic 510 that matter to trade businesses:

• You can’t use the standard rate if you operate five or more cars at the same time, as in a fleet operation.
• To use the standard rate for a car you own, you must choose it in the first year the car is available for use in your business.
• For a leased vehicle, if you choose the standard rate, you must use it for the entire lease period.
• Self-employed people report the deduction on Schedule C. Most employees can’t deduct unreimbursed vehicle expenses.

What a mileage log should show

IRS Publication 463 lists what to prove for car expenses. For each business use, record:

• The date.
• The miles driven for business (and your total miles for the year).
• The business purpose (for example, “service call, water heater, customer on Elm St”).
• If you use actual expenses, the amount of each expense.

Publication 463 says:

• A record made on a computer or other electronic device can be an adequate record, so a phone app or a spreadsheet can work.
• Records made at or near the time are best. A weekly log can count as timely if it covers the week’s business use.
• A round trip or uninterrupted business use can be recorded as a single entry.

If you use job software, job addresses and dates can help back up your log, but they don’t replace one.

How long to keep the records

The IRS says to keep records as long as they may be needed for the tax law, generally 3 years, with longer periods in specific cases (6 or 7 years in some situations). For a vehicle you depreciate, keep the purchase records until the period of limitations ends for the year you dispose of it.