What the IRS requires in a mileage log
The deduction is easy. Keeping it under examination is the part people lose.
Four things, for every trip
| Element | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Date | Places the trip in the tax year |
| Mileage | The basis of the deduction. Odometer readings substantiate it |
| Destination | Where you actually went |
| Business purpose | Why the drive was business rather than personal |
That is the whole list. There is no prescribed form, no official template, no app you are required to use. A paper notebook is acceptable — if it is complete.
« Contemporaneous » is the word that decides
The IRS expects records made at or near the time of the trip. Not in April. Not from memory. The rule exists because human memory reliably produces the same artefacts: round numbers, identical purposes, no weekends, no gaps.
An examiner is trained to notice exactly that. A log where every trip is 20 or 40 miles and every purpose reads « client meeting » invites the question of whether it was written all at once. Once that question is asked, the burden is yours.
Odometer readings beat estimates
A distance is an assertion. Two odometer readings are a fact, and they chain: the end of one trip should meet the start of the next. Gaps are unrecorded miles, and unrecorded miles are personal miles.
Purpose is not a formality
« Client meeting » is not a purpose. « Site visit, Henderson project, Acme Corp » is. The purpose column is where the difference between a business mile and a commute is recorded, and it is the first thing read.
Which drives qualify at all is settled on the business miles vs commuting page.
Standard rate or actual expenses: the choice locks
To use the standard mileage rate on a car you own, you must choose it in the first year the car is available for business. Miss that year, and the standard rate is closed to you for that vehicle, permanently.
On a leased car, choosing the standard rate binds you for the entire lease term, renewals included.
Switching from the standard rate to actual expenses later is allowed. Switching back is allowed too. Starting with actual expenses is what forecloses the option.
What you may add on top
Tolls and parking. Nothing else. Gas, insurance, maintenance, repairs and depreciation are already inside the standard rate, and deducting them separately is the most common way to turn a clean deduction into an adjustment.
Our free mileage log template carries the four required columns. The 2026 IRS mileage rate page gives the rates.
Kilevo builds the log from your calendar as the year goes: the destination and the meeting title are captured when the meeting happens, not reconstructed afterwards.
