Mileage and car costs for gig work
This page is about which driving the rules treat as business use, and what has to be written down before any of it counts.
Having the app on is not a tax rule
Whether an app was switched on is a fact about an app. The rules ask whether the use of the car was in carrying on a trade or business, and they ask for the mileage, the date and the business purpose of each use. Being logged in answers none of that by itself.
What the rules say
True whichever side of the class line you are on
- A vehicle cost is deductible only to the extent it is an ordinary and necessary expense of carrying on a trade or business; personal use is not deductible.
- The cost of commuting to a place of business or employment is a personal expense and is not deductible.
- The business standard mileage rate may be used subject to the limitations in Rev. Proc. 2019-46 § 4.05: five or more automobiles used simultaneously, lease-period consistency, an automobile for which accelerated depreciation or a § 179 deduction was claimed, use to claim a miscellaneous itemized deduction during the suspension period, and the rural mail carrier case.
- The business standard mileage rate is used in lieu of computing fixed and variable operating costs such as depreciation or lease payments, maintenance, tyres, fuel, oil, insurance and registration. Parking fees and tolls attributable to business use remain separately deductible.
- The business standard mileage rate is set by published announcement for a stated period, and a period within a year can carry its own rate.
Where the work is employment
Some of what follows exists only on one side of the class line. Where the class is not settled, we state the condition and stop rather than guessing which side you are on.
- For an employee, unreimbursed vehicle costs would be a miscellaneous itemized deduction, and that category is disallowed for taxable years beginning after 2017 with no scheduled expiry.
What a person would have to know first
These are the facts the rules turn on. We do not supply any of them for you.
- what the vehicle was used for, by period
- the facts identified by each limitation
- the dates the miles were driven
Driving, one situation at a time
Each heading below is a fact about the driving. The sentence under it is what the rules say about that fact, and nothing more.
Driving with the app switched on and no job accepted
That an application was switched on is a fact about the application. It is not a statement of what the vehicle was being used for, so it cannot by itself make a mile business mileage.
- what the vehicle was actually being used for during the period in question
- the mileage of each business use and the total mileage of the vehicle for the period
- the date of the use
- the business destination or purpose
Getting from home to where the work starts
Costs of commuting to a place of business or employment are personal expenses. There is no distance test and no exception based on the state of a mobile application.
Driving while actually carrying out the work
On the stated facts the use is in carrying on a trade or business, which is the condition § 162 imposes. The amount still has to be substantiated.
- the mileage of each business use and the total mileage of the vehicle for the period
- the date of the use
- the business destination or purpose
Driving from one place of business to another
On the stated facts the use is in carrying on a trade or business, which is the condition § 162 imposes. The amount still has to be substantiated.
- the mileage of each business use and the total mileage of the vehicle for the period
- the date of the use
- the business destination or purpose
Travel away from home overnight
Travel away from home raises a separate question that turns on the location of the tax home, which G2 does not resolve for any reader.
- the mileage of each business use and the total mileage of the vehicle for the period
- the date of the use
- the business destination or purpose
- the location of the tax home for the period
Personal driving
No deduction is allowed for personal, living or family expenses.
Driving that has not been described
The character of the use has not been stated, so nothing follows.
- what the vehicle was actually being used for during the period in question
- the mileage of each business use and the total mileage of the vehicle for the period
- the date of the use
- the business destination or purpose
The two methods, and what choosing one means
A published rate supplies a number only. Whether the method may be used at all is decided under Rev. Proc. 2019-46 § 4.05.
We do not publish the per-mile figure here, because a rate is the last step and only matters once the use, the class and the method limits have all been settled.
Costs the standard rate already covers
- depreciation or lease payments
- maintenance and repairs
- tyres
- fuel and oil
- insurance
- licence and registration fees
Costs the rules treat separately
- parking fees attributable to business use
- tolls attributable to business use
Where the work is employment
Some of what follows exists only on one side of the class line. Where the class is not settled, we state the condition and stop rather than guessing which side you are on.
- For a worker whose stated facts place the activity in employment, there is no route to a depreciation or § 179 deduction for property used in that work: the deduction would be a miscellaneous itemized deduction, and no miscellaneous itemized deduction is allowed. That disallowance no longer has an expiration date.
Where the person is carrying on a business of their own
Some of what follows exists only on one side of the class line. Where the class is not settled, we state the condition and stop rather than guessing which side you are on.
- A depreciation deduction is allowed for the exhaustion and wear and tear of property used in a trade or business, with recovery periods and methods prescribed by statute.
- An election to expense the cost of property under § 179 requires property acquired for use in the active conduct of a trade or business, and is subject to dollar, investment and taxable income limitations.
- Depreciation for a passenger automobile is limited to stated annual amounts, and claiming accelerated depreciation or a § 179 deduction for an automobile removes the standard mileage rate for that automobile in later years.
What a person would have to know first
These are the facts the rules turn on. We do not supply any of them for you.
- the extent of business use of the property
- the dollar limitation figures for the year in question
- what depreciation method was previously claimed for the automobile
- that the stated facts place this particular work in employment rather than self-employment
Where this comes from
Every source on this page shows the body that issued it and the date we read it. The federal text behind this center was last read on 2026-08-16.
- 26 U.S.C. § 162 — Trade or business expensesUnited States Code (GPO, govinfo). Read for: A deduction is allowed for the ordinary and necessary expenses paid or incurred in carrying on any trade or business. Read on 2026-08-16.
- 26 U.S.C. § 262 — Personal, living, and family expensesUnited States Code (GPO, govinfo). Read for: Except as otherwise expressly provided, no deduction is allowed for personal, living, or family expenses. Read on 2026-08-16.
- 26 C.F.R. § 1.262-1 — Personal, living, and family expensesElectronic Code of Federal Regulations. Read for: The taxpayer's costs of commuting to a place of business or employment are personal expenses and do not qualify as deductible expenses. Read on 2026-08-16.
- Rev. Proc. 2019-46 — Optional standard mileage rates; rules for using optional standard mileage ratesInternal Revenue Service. Read for: Section 4.01: a taxpayer may use the business standard mileage rate to substantiate a deduction for an automobile the taxpayer owns or leases, subject to the limitations in section 4.05. Read on 2026-08-16.
- Standard mileage rates (published rates by period)Internal Revenue Service. Read for: Business use rate of 70 cents per mile for 2025 (IR-2024-312). Read on 2026-08-16.
- 26 U.S.C. § 67 — 2-percent floor on miscellaneous itemized deductionsUnited States Code (GPO, govinfo). Read for: Miscellaneous itemized deductions are not allowed for the years covered by subsection (g). Read on 2026-08-16.
- Public Law 119-21, § 70110 — Termination of miscellaneous itemized deductions other than educator expensesUnited States Congress (GPO, govinfo). Read for: Section 67(g) is amended by striking the January 1, 2026 end date, so the disallowance applies to taxable years beginning after 2017 without a scheduled expiry. Read on 2026-08-16.
- 26 U.S.C. § 167 — DepreciationUnited States Code (GPO, govinfo). Read for: A depreciation deduction is allowed for the exhaustion and wear and tear of property used in a trade or business. Read on 2026-08-16.
- 26 U.S.C. § 168 — Accelerated cost recovery systemUnited States Code (GPO, govinfo). Read for: Recovery periods and methods are prescribed for property to which the section applies. Read on 2026-08-16.
- 26 U.S.C. § 179 — Election to expense certain depreciable business assetsUnited States Code (GPO, govinfo). Read for: A taxpayer may elect to treat the cost of § 179 property as an expense, subject to dollar and investment limitations and a taxable income limitation. Read on 2026-08-16.
- 26 U.S.C. § 280F — Limitation on depreciation for luxury automobiles; listed propertyUnited States Code (GPO, govinfo). Read for: Depreciation for a passenger automobile is limited to stated annual amounts. Read on 2026-08-16.
- 26 U.S.C. § 274 — Disallowance of certain entertainment, etc., expensesUnited States Code (GPO, govinfo). Read for: Subsection (d) disallows a deduction for listed property and travel unless the taxpayer substantiates the amount, time, place and business purpose by adequate records or sufficient evidence. Read on 2026-08-16.
- 26 C.F.R. § 1.274-5 — Substantiation requirementsElectronic Code of Federal Regulations. Read for: Adequate records means an account book, log, or similar record together with documentary evidence, made at or near the time of the expenditure or use. Read on 2026-08-16.