2026 mileage reimbursement check

The 2026 business mileage rate did not hold one value all year: 72.5 cents through June 30, 76 cents from July 1 (Announcement 2026-11). Most expense templates still hold one number.

When the trip happened Business miles on this report miles Rate you actually reimbursed cents/mile Flat allowance or advance also paid $ Days from the trip to the submitted log days Excess was returned within 120 days Wages already paid to this employee in 2026 $

IRS rate for this period	—	cents/mile
Your rate against the IRS rate	—	cents/mile
Short of the IRS rate on these miles	—	$
Tax-free ceiling	—	$
Total you paid	—	$
Above the ceiling	—	$
Goes on the W-2 as wages	—	$
Employer payroll tax on that	—	$
Ruling	—

Both 2026 rates, picked by the trip date
Uses 72.5 cents a mile for trips through June 30 and 76 cents from July 1, so a July report is not priced with January's number.

The 60-day substantiation window
Flags a log handed in more than 60 days after the trip, which makes the entire payment taxable wages rather than only the part above the ceiling.

The 120-day return-of-excess test

Employer payroll tax on the result
Stops Social Security at the 2026 wage base of $184,500 instead of charging 6.2 percent on everything, and adds Medicare at 1.45 percent.

Exportable audit trail
Saves the inputs, the rate that was applied and the ruling as a .csv row you keep with the expense report.

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