Mileage Reimbursement Calculator for Nonprofits

IRS mileage rates for 2026

The IRS sets standard mileage rates for business driving and medical travel, usually announcing them in December for the following year. In 2026 the IRS changed the rates in the middle of the year: the business rate is 72.5¢ a mile from January 1, 2026 to June 30, 2026 and 76¢ a mile from July 1, 2026. The rate that applies is the one for the day you drove, not the day you are reimbursed.

The charitable rate of 14¢ a mile is different: it is fixed by law, not set by the IRS, and stays the same until Congress changes it. Medical rates apply to a person’s own medical travel on their tax return and rarely matter for nonprofits.

Charitable mileage rate for volunteers

Volunteers who drive their own car for a charity, for example to deliver meals, drive players to a tournament or pick up donations, can count the unreimbursed miles as part of their charitable deduction at 14¢ a mile. Parking fees and tolls count at their actual cost. Driving to and from the volunteer work counts too, as long as it is for the organization and not personal.

Volunteers deduct their out-of-pocket costs, not their time. An hour of volunteer work has real value for your organization, but the volunteer can’t deduct it. That is why volunteer hours are tracked for grant and annual reports, not for tax returns.

If your organization reimburses volunteers for mileage, they can’t also deduct those miles. Reimbursing volunteers at more than 14¢ a mile can have tax consequences for them, so ask your CPA before you set a volunteer reimbursement rate. Whether a volunteer can use the deduction depends on their own return; Publication 526 explains the rules.

How to calculate mileage reimbursement

Mileage reimbursement is the miles driven times the rate per mile, plus parking fees and tolls if your policy covers them. Use the rate that was in effect on the date of each trip, so trips in the same month can have different rates only when the IRS changes the rate during the year, as it did on July 1, 2026.

For comparison, the business rate for 2025 was 70¢ a mile. Nonprofits don’t have to reimburse mileage at all, and they can choose a lower rate. Many write the IRS business rate into their expense policy because it is widely accepted and updated every year.

1. Choose who drove and why. Business driving that you reimburse, or a volunteer’s unreimbursed driving for the charitable deduction.
2. Enter the date driven. The calculator picks the IRS rate for that date.
3. Enter the miles. One way, and tick round trip if the driver came back.
4. Add parking and tolls. At their actual cost, if your policy reimburses them.
5. Add the trip to the log. Collect all trips of a month, then download the Excel log or the reimbursement form.

Mileage log template

A mileage log is the record that supports a reimbursement or a deduction. For each trip, write down:

• the date,
• where you started and where you went,
• the purpose of the trip, for example “board meeting” or “food bank delivery”,
• the miles driven, and
• parking fees and tolls, with receipts.

A short reimbursement policy, approved by the board, saves discussions later. Write down who can claim mileage (staff, board members, volunteers), which rate you pay and from which date, whether parking and tolls are covered, how drivers submit their log, for example by the end of each month, and who approves claims. When the IRS changes the business rate, your policy can follow automatically if it simply says “the IRS standard business mileage rate in effect on the date driven”.

Add trips in the calculator, then download the log as an Excel file with formulas and 30 empty rows to keep going, or as a reimbursement form in Word or PDF with lines for the driver’s and the approver’s signatures. Volunteers who drive without reimbursement get a mileage log to keep with their tax records instead.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• IRS: Standard mileage rates, as of July 28, 2026
• IRS Publication 526: Charitable Contributions

Last reviewed October 30, 2026. Figures as of October 30, 2026.