What counts as a business mile for a gig driver, and what does not
The standard mileage deduction is only as good as the miles behind it, and not every mile a driver covers on a working day is a business mile. The rule is simple to state and awkward at the edges, and the edges are where a gig driver's day lives: the drive out to the first pickup, the drive home from the last one, and the errand in between.
The rule
Business miles are miles driven from one business stop to another: between pickups, deliveries, customers and supply stops. Personal driving is not deductible. Neither is commuting, which is the trip between home and a regular or main work location, and that is the part of the rule that catches drivers out, because a gig driver's work location is wherever the next job is.
The deduction follows the miles, not the shift. Being logged into an app does not make a mile a business mile, and being logged out does not make it personal. What decides it is where you were driving from and to, and why.
The first leg out and the last leg home
If you have no regular office and no qualifying home office, the drive from home to your first business contact in your metropolitan area, and the drive from your last one back home, is generally commuting rather than business. The miles in the middle, from that first stop through every stop after it, are the business miles.
A home office changes the answer only if it qualifies as your principal place of business, in which case travel from it to another work location in the same business may be deductible. That is a question of facts, not of preference, so review those first and last legs carefully rather than assuming either way. The example below shows the difference in dollars on an ordinary day.
In the middle of a shift
A detour to the grocery store between deliveries is personal driving, even though it happened during a shift, and the miles to and from it are not business miles. A stop for supplies your business uses, such as insulated bags, is a business stop. The distinction is the purpose of the trip, not the time of day it happened.
Keep the personal detour out of the log rather than netting it off later. A record that shows the business legs and their purpose is straightforward to support; a total with an adjustment nobody wrote down is not.
- Between one business stop and the next: business.
- Home to the first stop, and the last stop home, with no qualifying home office: generally commuting.
- A personal errand during a shift: personal, including the miles to reach it and return.
The record that supports the miles
Vehicle expenses carry a strict substantiation rule. The record has to show the date, the destination or route, the business purpose and the business mileage, and it has to be made at or near the time. A weekly entry covering that week's driving is treated as timely kept, so a same-day entry is not required, but a total reconstructed months later from memory is much weaker evidence than a record kept as you drove.
Odometer readings are the anchor. A reading at the start and end of the year, and readings around the legs you exclude, let the business miles be reconciled against the total the car actually covered.
How RoadKept handles it
You log a shift by distance or by odometer reading, and each entry carries its date and its purpose. RoadKept values every business mile at the rate in force on the date it was driven and keeps the two 2026 rate periods apart. Classification is your tap, not the app's guess: a mile is business because you recorded it as business, and the year-end report shows what was recorded and nothing more.
One June day, leg by leg
A driver leaves home, drives 12 miles to the first pickup, covers 84 miles between that pickup and the last drop-off, and drives 8 miles home — 104 miles in all — with no regular office and no qualifying home office.
|
Home to the first pickup — 12 miles Commuting under the general rule: not deductible. |
$0.00 |
|---|---|
| First pickup to last drop-off — 84 miles at 72.5¢ | $60.90 |
|
Last drop-off to home — 8 miles Commuting under the general rule: not deductible. |
$0.00 |
|
What the two commuting legs would be worth if they counted The size of the first-and-last-leg question, and the reason to review those legs rather than assume. |
$14.50 |
The day's deduction is $60.90, from 84 of the 104 miles driven. A home office that qualifies as the principal place of business can change the first and last legs; that is a question of facts for a preparer, not a box to tick.
Work it out from your own log — free
No card. Log a week and RoadKept shows the figure for your miles, at the right rate for each date.
Work it through with your own figures
The Mileage Deduction Calculator takes the numbers from your own log and does this arithmetic for you, free and without an account.
Questions drivers ask
Which miles count as business miles?
Generally, driving from one business stop to another — between pickups, deliveries, customers or supply stops. Personal driving is not deductible, and neither is commuting between home and a regular or main work location. This part catches drivers out: if you have no regular office and no qualifying home office, the drive from home to your first business contact in your metropolitan area, and from your last one home, is generally commuting rather than business. If a home office qualifies as your principal place of business, travel from it to another work location in the same business may be deductible. It depends on the facts, so review those first and last legs carefully rather than assuming.
Do I need a mileage log?
Yes. Vehicle expenses carry a strict substantiation rule. Keep an account book, diary, app log, trip sheet or similar record showing the date, the destination or route, the business purpose and the business mileage. Record it at or near the time of use — the IRS treats a weekly log covering that week's driving as timely kept, so a same-day entry is not required. A reconstruction made later can be considered if you have enough other evidence, but it is much weaker than a record kept as you drove.
Do I have to log every single trip separately?
No. You can log a day, a week or a month at a time, by distance or by odometer reading, and paste a run of past shifts in one go. What the IRS asks for is a record made at or near the time, showing the date, the mileage and the business purpose — Pub 463 sets out the substantiation rules and the exceptions. A weekly entry backed by odometer readings is a common way drivers meet that; whether it is adequate for your circumstances is worth confirming with a preparer.
What if I have not logged anything for weeks?
Use the bulk entry box on the Log screen to paste past shifts, and add your odometer readings so the year reconciles. RoadKept checks each pasted line against what you already have and reports what it added, what it skipped as a duplicate, and what conflicts with an existing record — it never silently overwrites. Reconstructing a period from memory is weaker evidence than a contemporaneous record, so log what you can support.