If you drive for DoorDash, Uber Eats, Spark, or any delivery app, the one number you need to know this year is 72.5 cents per mile.
That’s the 2026 IRS standard mileage rate, up from 70 cents in 2025. Every mile you drive delivering food, groceries, or packages can reduce your taxable income. And if you drive a lot — like most delivery drivers do — it adds up fast.
A driver logging 20,000 business miles this year can deduct $14,500 from their taxable income. Depending on your tax bracket, that works out to roughly $2,100 to $3,200 in actual tax savings.
But only if you track your miles the right way.
Here’s how the mileage deduction works for gig workers, what changed in 2026, and how to keep more of what you earn.
Why 72.5 Cents Matters More Than You Think
The standard mileage rate covers what it costs to operate your vehicle — gas, maintenance, repairs, depreciation, insurance, and registration fees rolled into one. The IRS looks at average costs across all these categories and sets the rate annually.
In 2026, the rate went up by 2.5 cents from last year’s 70 cents. On 20,000 miles, that’s an extra $500 in deductions.
Most drivers I talk to don’t realize this: you cannot deduct both the mileage rate and your actual car expenses. You pick one. If you go with the standard mileage rate (72.5 cents per mile), that covers gas, oil changes, tires — everything. You don’t get to double-dip.
For most delivery drivers, the standard rate ends up being the better deal. Unless you’re driving an old beater with sky-high maintenance costs, the flat rate usually gives you a larger deduction.
How Much Can You Actually Save?
Run the numbers yourself.
Say you drive for DoorDash and Uber Eats on the side, maybe 25 hours a week. That works out to about 12,000 delivery miles a year.
12,000 miles x $0.725 = $8,700 deduction
If you’re in the 22% tax bracket (common for drivers pulling in $25,000 to $50,000), you save roughly $1,914 in taxes.
Now a full-time driver doing 40 hours a week, 25,000 miles per year.
25,000 x $0.725 = $18,125 deduction
At 22%: around $3,987 saved. At 24%: over $4,350.
That’s the difference between owing the IRS money in April and getting a refund.
The #1 Mistake I See Drivers Make
Guessing.
I browse the DoorDash and Uber drivers subreddit pretty often. Someone posts, “I drove about 15,000 miles last year, give or take.” The IRS does not accept “give or take.”
To claim the mileage deduction, you need a contemporaneous log. Record your miles around the time you drive them, not six months later when tax season hits and you’re trying to reconstruct your year from memory. The IRS has been clear on this: estimates and backdated logs won’t hold up in an audit.
And if you get audited with no log? That deduction is gone.
How to Track Your Miles Like a Pro
Three things that work:
Download a mileage tracker app**
Stride, Everlance, and Gridwise all use GPS to detect when you’re driving and log trips automatically. They separate business from personal driving and generate IRS-ready reports at the end of the year.
Stride is free, which makes it the easiest place to start. Everlance gives you more features on its free plan if you drive full time.
Let the app sort business vs. personal**
This is where tracking apps earn their keep. When you drive from your https://gigworkermoney.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/uber-eats-delivery-driver.jpg to a restaurant pickup, that’s business. When you drive https://gigworkermoney.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/uber-eats-delivery-driver.jpg from your last drop-off, that’s personal. The app figures it out so you don’t have to remember to hit “start” and “stop” every time.
Keep a paper backup**
Apps crash. Phones die. I’ve had both happen mid-shift. A small notebook in your glove box takes two minutes a day and saves your deduction if your digital log goes missing.
What Counts as Business Mileage (and What Doesn’t)
A lot of drivers miss deductions simply because they don’t track everything they should.
Business miles include:
- Driving from your https://gigworkermoney.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/uber-eats-delivery-driver.jpg to your first pickup
- Every mile between deliveries
- Trips to restaurants and stores to pick up orders
- Driving back toward your area after the last drop-off
What doesn’t count:
- Commuting from https://gigworkermoney.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/uber-eats-delivery-driver.jpg to a regular workplace. But here’s the thing about gig work — you don’t have a regular workplace. The IRS treats your https://gigworkermoney.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/uber-eats-delivery-driver.jpg as your principal place of business if you’re a delivery driver. So that first trip from your driveway to your first pickup? That counts.
- Personal driving. Trips to the https://gigworkermoney.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/uber-eats-delivery-driver.jpg store, the gym, or picking up your kid from school. Keep those separate.
Standard Mileage vs. Actual Expenses: Which One to Pick
The standard mileage rate is simple: 72.5 cents per mile, multiplied by your total business miles. No receipts to dig through, no spreadsheets.
The actual expense method means tracking every dollar you spend on your car — gas, repairs, insurance, registration, even car washes. Then you multiply by the percentage of total miles that were for business.
Example: your car costs $8,000 to run for the year, and 75% of your miles were for deliveries. You deduct $6,000.
For most drivers, the standard mileage rate wins. Newer cars and hybrids are cheap to operate per mile, so the fixed rate is generous compared to what you actually spend.
But if your car has high mileage and eats repairs, actual expenses might work out better. Run both numbers before you decide.
Worth knowing: if you pick the standard mileage rate in your first year using the car for business, you’re locked into that method for that car. If you pick actual expenses in year one, you can switch to the standard rate later.
How the New Tax Rules Affect Your Bottom Line
You may have heard about the “No Tax on Tips” provision from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Tips make up a big chunk of delivery income, and some of that tip income is now exempt from federal income tax under certain conditions.
The mileage deduction and the tip exemption are two separate things. You can take both. The mileage write-off reduces your taxable business income, and the tip exemption means less of your tip money gets taxed.
Together, they can make a real dent in your 2026 tax bill.
Tools That Make Tax Season Less Painful
You don’t have to make this complicated.
Mileage tracking: Stride (free), Everlance (free tier), Gridwise (shows earnings alongside mileage — useful)
Filing taxes: FreeTaxUSA is way cheaper than TurboTax and handles gig worker forms without issues. Most mileage apps will export a summary report you can hand to your tax preparer.
Savings: Put 25 to 30% of every payout into a separate savings account. It stings seeing less money hit your checking account after each shift. But April 15 hurts a lot less when the money’s already set aside.
Bottom Line
The 2026 mileage rate of 72.5 cents is generous. If you drive 15,000 to 25,000 miles a year — normal range for anyone doing this full or nearly full time — you’re looking at a deduction worth thousands.
The catch? You have to track your miles. Real ones, not estimates.
Download a free tracker tonight. Start logging tomorrow. Your future self — sitting down to do taxes in January — will be glad you did.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute tax advice. Tax laws change frequently and individual situations vary. Consult a qualified tax professional for advice specific to your circumstances.
See also: how much delivery drivers really make in 2026
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