W-2 employee: can I deduct mileage or get it reimbursed?

A W-2 employee can no longer deduct unreimbursed business mileage on the federal return: the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended that itemized deduction, and the 2025 reconciliation law made the suspension permanent from tax year 2026. A few narrow categories remain, Armed Forces reservists, qualified performing artists, fee-basis state or local government officials and certain disability-related work expenses. For everyone else, the mileage log serves one purpose: getting reimbursed by the employer.

That reimbursement is tax-free when the employer runs an accountable plan, and the IRS requires three things for it:

1. A business connection: the miles were driven for the job, and the commute from home to the regular office stays out.
2. Substantiation of each trip within a reasonable time: date, miles, destination and business purpose.
3. Return of any excess reimbursed beyond what was documented.

Under such a plan the employer can reimburse at the IRS standard mileage rate, 72.5 cents a mile in 2026, without either side owing tax on it. A round-number allowance with no log behind it is exactly what turns a tax-free plan into taxable wages.

Kilevo builds that record from your calendar: each appointment with an address becomes a round trip from your default address, the title becomes the purpose, the distance comes from Google Maps. At month end, the Monthly summary PDF gives a line per trip, ready to attach to an expense claim, with the Outstanding balance once you record the payments received.

The Kilevo for W-2 employees page covers the record to keep, and mileage reimbursement for employers the accountable plan itself. For your situation, check with the IRS, your employer's policy or your accountant.