Daily journal template: your 2026 trip at the right IRS rate

For US self-employed drivers who file Schedule C. In 2026 the IRS business rate changed on July 1: 72.5 cents a mile through 2026-06-30, 76 cents from 2026-07-01 (Announcement 2026-11). Type one trip and get the deduction plus a daily note for Obsidian.

Deduction for this trip

$28.88
IRS rate on this date76 cents a mile
RuleAnnouncement 2026-11 (from 2026-07-01)
Same miles at the other 2026 rate$27.55
Difference$1.33

A one-rate spreadsheet would price this July trip at 72.5 cents.

Daily note for Obsidian (paste into a new note named after the date):


  
  
Full version — $29.90 once: the themed vault that adds every daily note to a 2026 mileage log






  
Why one trip is not enough

  
The IRS wants a written record made at or near the time: date, business miles, destination and purpose for every trip, plus total miles for the year. Schedule C, Part IV asks if your evidence is written. This page checks one trip. It does not keep the record.

  
The paid vault does: every daily note with miles above 0 lands in Mileage 2026.base, which has one table for the first half (72.5 cents) and one for the second half (76 cents), each with a sum. Worked example from the vault: 6,000 business miles driven July to December 2026 come to 4,560 dollars at 76 cents; at 72.5 cents they would be 4,350 dollars, so 210 dollars would be left off Schedule C.

  
  
Mileage apps bill monthly (MileIQ Unlimited listed at $13.99 a month, June 2026 pricing review). This is one payment, not a subscription, and you can check your own trip above before you pay.






  
Logbook theme: measured contrast

  

    
DarkBody text 13.04:1
Muted text 6.72:1
Accent 7.66:1
Sidebar text 11.86:1

    
LightBody text 13.54:1
Muted text 5.39:1
Accent 5.11:1
Sidebar text 12.19:1

  

  
Targets: 4.5:1 for body and sidebar text, 3:1 for muted text and accent, in both modes.






  
Install the vault

  
    
    
  1. Unzip the download.
    2. 
    
  2. In Obsidian choose Open folder as vault and pick the unzipped folder. It opens with Logbook already on.
    3. 
    
  3. To use it inside an existing vault, copy the folder into that vault, then copy .obsidian/themes/Logbook and .obsidian/snippets into your vault's .obsidian folder.
    4. 
  

  
Menu names can differ slightly by Obsidian version and interface language. No community plugins are needed.








Get the full version $29.9
The themed Obsidian vault: every daily note you write lands in a year-long 2026 mileage log that splits first-half and second-half trips and sums each at its own rate, the dated record a one-off calculation cannot keep. Logbook theme (light and dark), 3 templates, 3 snippets, worked example days and
One payment, one licence key for this tool. The key is shown right after payment.
IRS Announcement 2026-11: 72.5 cents a business mile through 2026-06-30, 76 cents from 2026-07-01. MileIQ Unlimited listed at $13.99 a month (June 2026 pricing review).
Buy the full version — $29.9


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Worked example
Real numbers from this tool, line by line.
Daily journal template with a 2026 mileage log: the July 1 rate split


If you are self-employed in the US and drove 6,000 business miles from July to December 2026, your Schedule C deduction is 4,560 dollars, not 4,350. That 210-dollar gap is what a one-rate mileage sheet leaves out, because the IRS changed the business rate in the middle of the year.


TripsMilesRateDeduction
July to December 20266,00076 cents4,560 dollars
Same miles at the old rate6,00072.5 cents4,350 dollars
Left off Schedule C210 dollars


Two rates in one year


For 2026 the IRS first set the business standard mileage rate at 72.5 cents a mile in Notice 2026-10. Then Announcement 2026-11 raised it to 76 cents for trips on or after 2026-07-01, citing higher fuel prices. Trips through 2026-06-30 keep 72.5 cents. Medical and moving went from 20.5 to 23.5 cents; charitable stays at 14 cents.


Many expense sheets and journal templates carry one number for the whole year. In 2026 that number is wrong for half of it.


What one trip looks like


The same 38-mile client round trip is worth 27.55 dollars on 2026-06-30 and 28.88 dollars on 2026-07-01. Over a half-year of driving the gap adds up.


The record matters as much as the rate


IRC 274(d) only allows a car deduction you can substantiate. Schedule C, Part IV asks two plain questions: do you have evidence to support the deduction, and is that evidence written? A record made at or near the time of the trip carries the most weight. For each trip it should show:



You also need total miles for the year, which means writing down your odometer on January 1 and December 31. Commuting between home and your regular workplace is not a business trip.


Why a daily journal is the right place for the log


A mileage app is one more habit. In this Obsidian vault the log sits inside your daily note: each one has three properties at the top: miles, destination and purpose. On days you do not drive, miles stays at 0 and the day stays out of the log.


A Bases file, Mileage 2026.base, collects the notes into three views:



The Mileage Log 2026 note shows both half-year tables next to each other, so you can read the two totals for Schedule C, line 9.


What is in the vault


13 files: 9 notes, 3 templates and 1 Bases file. Templates: Daily note, Weekly review, Monthly close (with odometer fields). There are four example days around the rate change (2026-06-29, 2026-06-30, 2026-07-01, 2026-07-02), a weekly review for 2026-W27, an IRS log checklist and a start note. It runs on core Obsidian only: Daily notes, Templates, Properties and Bases. No community plugins.


It opens with the Logbook theme on: a 42rem reading column, line height 1.68 and date titles in tabular figures. Body text contrast is 13.04:1 dark and 13.54:1 light. Three snippets ship: focus-width, mileage-properties and bases-zebra.


Try it on your own trip first


The free page takes a trip date and business miles. It shows which 2026 rate applies to that date, the deduction, the same miles at the other rate, and a daily note with the four log fields to paste into Obsidian. It checks one trip. The vault keeps the whole year, so the log is already done when you file in April 2027.
15 seconds — what it actually does
Questions people ask
What does this daily journal template do?
It is an Obsidian vault of 13 files (9 notes, 3 templates, 1 Bases file) with the Logbook theme and 3 snippets. Each day you write an entry and, on days you drive, the business miles, destination and purpose. A Bases file collects those days into a 2026 mileage log with one table for trips through 2026-06-30 at 72.5 cents and one for trips from 2026-07-01 at 76 cents.
Who is it for?
US self-employed people who file Schedule C and drive to clients, sites or suppliers: consultants, photographers, real estate agents, tradespeople and other freelancers. It suits people who already journal in Obsidian, or want to, and would rather keep one daily habit than a separate mileage app.
Why not use a free journal template?
Free journal templates do not record business miles, and most mileage spreadsheets hold one rate for the whole year. In 2026 the IRS rate changed on July 1, from 72.5 to 76 cents a mile. This vault prices each trip by its date and keeps the dated written record that Schedule C, Part IV asks about.
What can I do for free?
On the free web page you type a trip date and business miles. It shows which 2026 IRS rate applies to that date and the deduction for that trip, and it builds a daily note with date, miles, destination and purpose to paste into Obsidian. The page also shows both theme palettes with their measured contrast ratios.
How does the cost compare with a mileage app?
Mileage apps bill monthly; MileIQ Unlimited was listed at $13.99 a month in a June 2026 pricing review. This vault is $29.90, paid once, not a subscription. It runs on core Obsidian with no community plugins, and your log stays in plain Markdown files on your own device.
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What changes in 2027 (US + UK): every deadline with its official source →