To deduct business mileage on a US tax return, you need a record made at or near the time of each trip showing the miles, the date, where you went and the business purpose. A GPS speedometer app can give you an accurate date and distance for every trip you record. You still have to add the destination and purpose yourself and keep the log somewhere safe. For 2026, the IRS standard mileage rate for business use is 72.5 cents a mile from January 1 to June 30 and 76 cents from July 1 to December 31.
This isn’t tax advice. Whether you can deduct mileage, and how, depends on your situation, so check the IRS guidance linked below or ask a tax professional.
What does the IRS require in a mileage log? #
IRS Publication 463 covers travel and car expenses. For business use of a car, an adequate record shows:
| Element | What to write down | Where it can come from |
|---|---|---|
| Mileage | Business miles for each trip | GPS trip distance or odometer readings |
| Time | The date of the trip | GPS trip date |
| Place | Where you went | You (or the route on the trip’s map) |
| Business purpose | Why the trip was for business | You |
Publication 463 also stresses timely records, meaning written at or near the time of the trip, not rebuilt from memory at tax time. And it lists commuting between your home and your regular workplace as a personal expense you can’t deduct, however far it is.
Tax forms also ask for your total miles for the year alongside business miles, so it helps to note your car’s odometer reading on January 1 and December 31.
What are the 2026 IRS mileage rates? #
According to the IRS’s standard mileage rates page:
| Period | Business rate |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 70 cents per mile |
| January 1 - June 30, 2026 | 72.5 cents per mile |
| July 1 - December 31, 2026 | 76 cents per mile |
Because the 2026 rate changed mid-year, your log needs dates for every trip, not just a yearly total. An 18.4-mile client visit in March is worth 18.4 × $0.725 = $13.34 at the standard rate; the same trip in September is worth $13.98. Rates change, so check the IRS page each year.
Can I use a GPS app as my mileage log? #
A GPS app can be the measuring part of your log. Whether it can be the whole log depends on whether it records the destination and purpose too.
Speedometer GPS saves each trip with:
- The date and time you saved it.
- Distance, max speed, average speed, trip time and moving time. Trip time includes stops; moving time doesn’t.
- The route, drawn on a map (Apple Maps on iPhone, a route sketch on Android), with a speed chart.
- A GPX export: a standard file of timestamped GPS points that mapping tools can open. The route is trimmed to 500 points per trip to keep files light, so a long drive’s track is simplified, but it still shows where and when you drove.
- A share card with the date, distance, top speed, average and time, which you can send to your notes, email or a messaging app.
What it doesn’t do, and you should know before relying on it:
- No purpose or destination field. You add those in your own log.
- No automatic trip detection. You open the app and press Start for each trip. It only uses location while it’s open on screen, with no background tracking, so it can’t log a drive you forgot to start.
- No CSV or spreadsheet export. You copy each trip’s distance into your spreadsheet, or keep the GPX files.
- Up to 100 saved trips on the phone. Record trips in your log as you go rather than waiting until the end of the year.
If you drive for business every day, a dedicated mileage-tracking app that detects drives automatically and produces yearly reports will save you time. Speedometer GPS suits occasional business trips, and people who want their location data to stay on the phone: it needs no account, works offline and uploads nothing.
A simple workflow for each business trip #
- Before you drive: mount the phone, open the app, wait for the GPS pill to show GOOD or EXCELLENT, and press Start. Don’t touch the phone once you’re moving.
- When you arrive: press Stop, then Save. The trip goes into your history.
- Press Reset. Save keeps the trip but doesn’t clear the readout, so reset before the next leg or the next trip will carry on from this one.
- Right away, add a row to your log with the date, start point, destination, business purpose and the miles from the app.
- Back it up. Open the trip and export the GPX file or share the card to a folder you keep for taxes.
- Once a week, check the log against your calendar and fill any gaps from your odometer.
Here’s a log layout that covers everything Publication 463 asks for:
| Date | From | To | Business purpose | Miles | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-03-04 | Office | Client A, 120 Main St | Quarterly review meeting | 18.4 | GPS trip |
| 2026-03-04 | Client A | Office | Return from meeting | 18.1 | GPS trip |
| 2026-03-09 | Office | Supplier warehouse | Pick up materials | 7.9 | Odometer |
A spreadsheet or a notes app both work. What matters is writing it at the time.
How accurate is GPS distance for a mileage log? #
On open roads, phone GPS distance is usually within 1 to 2% of the true distance, and often closer to reality than a car’s odometer, which drifts with tire wear and size. There are situations where it reads short:
- Tunnels and underground garages, where there’s no signal. Speedometer GPS doesn’t bridge a gap longer than 200 metres, so a long tunnel is missing from the trip.
- Slow traffic. The app ignores steps under 5 metres between one-second fixes so a parked phone doesn’t gain distance, which means it under-counts badly below about 18 km/h (11 mph). A long crawl in stop-and-go traffic comes out short.
- Starting late. If you press Start a mile down the road, that mile isn’t in the trip.
- Switching away from the app during the drive.
Reading slightly short is the safe direction for a tax record: you’re claiming a little less than you drove, not more. The full list of reasons is in why GPS trip distance doesn’t match your odometer, and our odometer accuracy guide shows how to test your car against GPS.
For trips with several stops, save each leg separately so every destination has its own row. Pause vs reset for stops explains how Stop, Save and Reset work on multi-leg days.
Frequently asked questions #
What does the IRS require for a mileage log? #
For each business trip: the miles driven, the date, the destination and the business purpose, recorded at or near the time of the trip. IRS Publication 463 describes these requirements in its recordkeeping section.
What is the IRS mileage rate for 2026? #
The business standard mileage rate is 72.5 cents per mile for January 1 to June 30, 2026, and 76 cents per mile for July 1 to December 31, 2026, according to the IRS standard mileage rates page. The 2025 rate was 70 cents.
Is GPS data enough proof of business mileage? #
GPS data shows when and where you drove and how far, but not why. You still need the business purpose for each trip, written at the time. A GPS track plus a log with destinations and purposes makes a much stronger record than either alone.
Can I deduct my commute? #
No. Publication 463 treats commuting between your home and your regular place of work as a personal expense, even if the drive is long or you make work calls on the way.
Does Speedometer GPS track drives automatically? #
No. You press Start at the beginning of each trip and Stop and Save at the end, and the app has to stay open on screen while you drive. That keeps your location private and on the phone, but it means you have to remember to start it.