IRS mileage rate July 2026: the mid-year increase

On July 1, 2026, the optional business standard mileage rate rose mid-year. Searches for “IRS mileage rate July 2026” point at that change — not a new full-year rate. Logs that keep one cents-per-mile cell for all of 2026 will miscalculate trips after June 30.

What Announcement 2026-11 covers

The IRS published the optional rates for the second half of 2026 in Announcement 2026-11 (alongside Notice 2026-10 for the first half). For business use, the rate moves from 72.5 cents per mile (Jan 1 – Jun 30) to 76 cents per mile (Jul 1 – Dec 31). Medical / qualifying military moving also rose mid-year; the charitable rate stays 14¢ by statute.

Purpose	Before July 1, 2026	From July 1, 2026
Business	72.5 cents/mile	76 cents/mile
Medical / qualifying military moving	20.5 cents/mile	23.5 cents/mile
Charitable	14 cents/mile all year (statutory)

Optional rates from IRS Notice 2026-10 and Announcement 2026-11. Confirm figures on IRS.gov before you file. This page is for record-keeping only — not tax advice.

Why July 1 trips need a different rate

The rate follows the trip date, not when you open the spreadsheet.
June 30 business miles → 72.5¢; July 1 business miles → 76¢.
Hard-coding 72.5¢ all year understates July–December; hard-coding 76¢ all year overstates January–June.
Keep date, purpose, and miles so the deduction stays supportable.

Prefer a date-aware lookup (or separate rate columns) over editing one settings cell twice a year.

Quick example

80 business miles on June 28 → 80 × $0.725 = $58.00. Same 80 miles on July 2 → 80 × $0.76 = $60.80. Same miles, different half of the year after Announcement 2026-11.

Free log for the July 2026 increase

Yellowcell’s free Excel mileage log looks up the 2026 rate from trip date and purpose — including the July 1 business and medical increases from Announcement 2026-11. Yellow cells are inputs; gray cells are formulas. No macros.

Free 2026 IRS mileage log