Self-employed or 1099: can I deduct my mileage?

Yes: freelancer, sole proprietor, single-member LLC, gig or 1099 contractor, if you file a Schedule C, your business driving is deductible. Car and truck expenses go on Line 9, at the 2026 IRS standard rate of 72.5 cents a mile or by actual expenses. Eight thousand business miles is a $5,800 deduction. Unlike a W-2 employee, you have not lost this deduction; the trade is that the burden of proof is entirely yours.

Most self-employed people work from home, and that changes everything about mileage. If a room is used regularly and exclusively for the business, and it is where you do its administrative work, your home is your principal place of business: the drive from home to a client is travel between two business locations, and it counts. Without a qualifying home office, that same first drive of the day is usually a personal commute.

Part IV of Schedule C then asks four questions about the vehicle: when you placed it in service, your business and commuting miles, whether it was available for personal use, and whether you have written evidence. That last one is answered under penalty of perjury; saying yes without a log is a far worse position than claiming a smaller deduction.

Kilevo turns each appointment with an address in your calendar into a trip, with the purpose and the distance, and produces the annual mileage log ready for your accountant. The free plan lets you try it on your own appointments, five trips a month.

The Kilevo for the self-employed page details the method, and mileage deduction on Schedule C what the form asks. Confirm your home office and your method with the IRS or your accountant.