The Internal Revenue Service just issued the 2015 standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible cost of operating a vehicle for business, charitable, medical or work related moving purposes.
Beginning January 1, 2015, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car, van, pickup, or panel truck will be:
- 57.5 cents per mile for business purpose miles driven, up from 56 cents for 2014
- 23 cents per mile driven for medical or moving for work purposes, down from 23.5 cents
- 14 cents per mile driven for charitable organization purposes, the same as previous years
Taxpayers always have the option of claiming actual costs of operating a vehicle rather than the standard mileage. If you have claimed depreciation on a vehicle in prior years, you cannot use the business standard mileage rate for that vehicle – you must use actual expenses.
Taxpayers must have accurate mileage logs for all business mileage and the total mileage of the vehicle if used part of the time for personal use, for both methods of cost calculations.
