The Internal Revenue Service (US) has issued the 2019 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes. Beginning on Jan. 1, 2019, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) in the United States will be:
• 58 cents per mile for business driven (up from 54.5 cents in 2018)
• 20 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes (up from 18 cents in 2018)
• 14 cents per mile driven for a charitable organization
The business mileage rate increased three and a half a cent per mile, and the medical and moving expense rates each increased 2 cents per mile from 2018. The charitable rate is set by statute and remains unchanged.
Taxpayers always have the option of calculating the actual costs of using their vehicle rather than using the standard mileage rates.
A taxpayer may not use the business standard mileage rate for a vehicle after using any depreciation method under the Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS) or after claiming a Section 179 deduction for that vehicle. In addition, the business standard mileage rate cannot be used for more than four vehicles used simultaneously. These and other limitations are described in section 4.05 of Rev. Proc. 2010-51.
Notice 2019-02, posted today on IRS.gov, contains the standard mileage rates, the amount a taxpayer must use in calculating reductions to basis for depreciation taken under the business standard mileage rate, and the maximum standard automobile cost that a taxpayer may use in computing the allowance under a fixed and variable rate plan.
MileCatcher is a mileage tracker and will automatically use country-specific 2019 deduction rates for trips you log if you set up an account in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, Austria, Belgium, New Zealand, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden.
