Mileage Log Template (Free, IRS-Ready, Excel & Google Sheets)

Business mileage is one of the most valuable deductions self-employed people leave on the table — not because they don’t drive, but because they don’t log. The IRS standard mileage method pays out per documented mile, and “documented” is the operative word: a credible log needs the date, where you went, why it was business, and the miles. Reconstruction from memory in April rarely survives scrutiny, and never survives an audit.

This log captures exactly those four fields per trip, totals your miles, and multiplies by a rate you control. Every formula was verified against the worked example in the download.

2026 rates: there are two, and it matters

The IRS set the 2026 business rate at 72.5 cents per mile starting January 1 — then raised it to 76 cents per mile for trips from July 1 onward, a rare midyear adjustment driven by fuel prices. Practically, that means 2026 filers should keep first-half and second-half miles separate.

The template handles this with a rate cell rather than a hard-coded number: set it to 0.725 for January–June trips and 0.76 for July–December (the example, an August month, uses 0.76). The cleanest setup for 2026 is two tabs — one per half-year, each with its own rate. The example’s six trips total 86.5 miles, for a deduction estimate of $65.74 — one modest month for a home-based freelancer, and roughly $800/year at that pace. People who drive to clients weekly are often looking at several thousand dollars.

What counts as a business mile

Not tax advice — verify your situation with a professional — but the widely applicable outlines:

Counts: driving from your workplace (including a qualifying home office) to client sites, between job sites, to purchase business supplies, to business meetings and events.

Doesn’t count: commuting from home to a regular workplace, and personal errands folded into a trip. If you stop for groceries on the way back from a client, the detour miles are personal.

The purpose column is your defense. “Design review meeting” and “pick up client proofs” (as in the example) are specific enough to be credible years later. “Errands” is not. Write the purpose the day of the trip, while you remember it.

Building the logging habit

The log fails at exactly one point: the moment you get out of the car. Three fixes that work:

Log from your phone in the parking lot. The Google Sheets app plus this template is a 20-second entry. Attach it to buckling your seatbelt for the drive home.

Use round-trip rows. The example’s “Home office → Print shop → home” is one row with total miles — no need for two entries per errand.

Let your maps app remember the distance. You don’t need to watch the odometer; the route’s distance in Google Maps is consistent and reproducible, and per IRS guidance your records should be backed by something — calendar entries, appointment confirmations — that corroborates the trips.

Using it in Google Sheets

1. Google Sheets → blank sheet → File → Import → Upload → choose the file → Replace spreadsheet.
2. Set the rate cell for the half-year you’re logging. 45 rows covers a month or a quarter depending on how much you drive; duplicate the tab per period.

If you invoice clients for travel, the same log doubles as your billing record — pair it with the freelance invoice template and the hourly rate calculator.

Frequently asked questions

Standard mileage vs. actual expenses — which should I use? The standard rate (this log) is simpler and usually better for economical cars; actual expenses (gas, maintenance, depreciation) can win for expensive vehicles. Many people compute both in year one. Ask a tax professional — this template documents; it doesn’t decide.

Do I need odometer readings? A year-start and year-end odometer reading is commonly recommended alongside a trip log, since total annual miles establish your business-use percentage. Photograph the dashboard each January 1 — ten seconds, done.

Is it free? Free for personal and commercial use, no signup. Spot an issue? Tell us and we’ll fix the file.