Every drive to a flea market, thrift store, estate sale or the post office is deductible. Most resellers never claim it, because logging it means opening a laptop after every trip.
2026 has two rates. The IRS raised it halfway through the year, which it almost never does. Miles driven January to June count at 72.5¢. Miles from July onward count at 76¢. A single annual figure will be wrong.
Not sure of the split? Put your best guess in each. Being roughly right beats claiming nothing, which is what most people do.
| Period | Miles | Rate | Deduction |
|---|
It's remembering. Resale Inventory logs a trip in about five seconds on your phone, from wherever you're standing, and totals the miles per person at tax time.
Try it free for 7 daysDriving for the business is deductible. For a reseller that usually means:
Commuting to a regular job doesn't count, and neither does the personal half of a trip you'd have made anyway.
Miles alone aren't enough if you're ever asked. A usable log records the date, where you went, why, and how far. Written at the time, not reconstructed in April from memory.
That's the whole reason this deduction goes unclaimed. Nobody minds the 76 cents — they mind opening a spreadsheet after every trip.
The per-mile rate covers fuel, maintenance, insurance and depreciation in one number. The alternative is tracking every actual cost and claiming the business share, which means keeping receipts for everything.
For most resellers driving a normal car, the standard rate wins on effort and often on amount. If you drive something expensive to run, it's worth asking your accountant which comes out ahead.
Fuel costs rose. The IRS amended its own January notice in Announcement 2026-11, moving the business rate from 72.5¢ to 76¢ from July 1. It's unusual — most years have one rate.
70¢ per mile for the whole year.
Not necessarily, but you need the distance and a reason for the trip. A map app's distance is fine as long as you record it at the time.