Free Mileage Log Template
Add each business trip as you drive it: the date, who you went to see and why, where from and to, and the odometer readings or the miles. The log adds up the business miles, shows what they are worth at the IRS standard rate for each trip's date, and prints as a clean landscape mileage log or downloads as a CSV.
What the IRS expects a mileage log to show
IRS Publication 463 lists what you must be able to prove for business use of a car. A mileage log is the usual way to do it. For each trip, and for the year:
- Amount
- The mileage for each business use, and the total miles you drove the car in the year. The odometer columns and the period readings in this log cover both.
- Time
- The date you used the car for the trip.
- Place
- Your business destination: the customer, the job site, the branch.
- Business purpose
- Why you went: a demo for a named customer, a site visit, a delivery. "Sales" on its own explains very little.
Pub. 463 says to record these at or near the time of the trip, and that a log kept weekly that accounts for the week's use counts as a timely kept record. A record you keep on a computer counts too, so this log, printed or saved as a CSV each week, does the job.
Keep the log, and the receipts for parking and tolls, for at least 3 years from the date you file the return that claims the deduction; Pub. 463 says that is the general rule.
Which miles count, and which do not
Commuting is not business mileage. Pub. 463 says you can't deduct the cost of driving between your home and your main or regular place of work, however far it is and even if you work on the way.
Driving from your office to a customer, from one customer to the next, or between two places of work in one day is business mileage. So is the drive from home to a temporary work location, if you also have a regular work location away from home. If you work from no regular place, trips between home and temporary sites inside your metro area are still commuting; Pub. 463 has the details and a chart.
A round trip or one uninterrupted business run can be one line in the log. A quick stop for lunch between two business stops does not break it up.
Deduction or reimbursement?
If you are self-employed, the business miles times the IRS standard mileage rate is the car deduction you claim, with parking fees and tolls for business trips on top.
If you are an employee, the log backs up your claim to your employer. Pub. 463 says the cost of using your car as an employee can no longer be claimed as an unreimbursed employee expense, so the money comes from your employer's reimbursement, at its rate. Many employers use the IRS rate.
The value shown here is the miles at the IRS business rate for each trip's date. It is an estimate of the deduction or a reimbursement, not tax advice; your tax professional or your company's expense policy decides.
Need one number for a single trip? Use the mileage reimbursement calculator.
Claiming hotel, meals and mileage together? Put the log's total in an expense report.
Tips for a mileage log that holds up
Read the odometer on Jan. 1
The total miles for the year come from the odometer at the start and the end. Write both down; the log shows your business-use share once they are in.
Name the customer, not just the town
"Demo, Harbor Tools" is a business purpose. "Springfield" is a place. The log has a column for each.
Log at the end of each day or week
Pub. 463 counts a weekly log as timely. Trips rebuilt from a calendar at year end are harder to defend.
Fixed route? Record it once
Pub. 463's example: a rep on an established route can record the route's length once, the date of each trip, and the year's total miles.
More for outside and field reps: what an outside sales rep does, sales route planning, field sales management.
Sources
Log the purpose while you are still in the parking lot.
The miles are on the odometer; the reason for the trip is what gets forgotten. Say who you saw and why into a voice note before you drive off, and ParrotNotes keeps a dated note with a summary to fill the log from. Free for 100 minutes of recording a month.
Get ParrotNotes freeRelated tools
- Mileage Reimbursement CalculatorAdd up business miles for a trip, a week of visits or a month, and see the reimbursement at the 2026 IRS rate or your company's own rate.Open the tool
- Expense Report TemplateFill in a business expense report with dates, categories, mileage and receipts, then print it, save it as PDF or download a CSV.Open the tool
- Per Diem CalculatorAdd up per diem for a business trip from the daily lodging and meals rates, with 75% meals on the first and last travel days.Open the tool
- Sales Territory PlannerList your accounts by area and priority, set how often each needs a visit, and get a four-week visit plan grouped by area to print or copy.Open the tool