How to Track Mileage for Gig Work in 2026 (IRS-Compliant)

Mileage is the single largest tax deduction for most gig workers. At $0.725 per mile in 2026, a driver doing 20,000 business miles saves $14,500 in taxable income. But the IRS has specific rules about what counts and how you need to track it.

What Miles Count as Business Miles?

For gig workers (DoorDash, Uber, Instacart, etc.), these miles are deductible:

• Driving to pick up an order after accepting it in the app
• Driving to deliver an order to the customer
• Driving between deliveries while the app is on and you're waiting for orders
• Driving to a hotspot area to start your shift (this one is debatable -- see below)

These miles are NOT deductible:

• Commuting from home to your "first stop" -- unless your home is your principal place of business (which it usually is for gig workers)
• Personal errands during your shift (picking up groceries for yourself, etc.)
• Driving home after your last delivery -- unless home is your principal business location

IRS Requirements for a Mileage Log

The IRS requires "adequate records" kept "at or near the time" of each trip. Your mileage log must include:

1. Date of the trip
2. Destination (or route description)
3. Business purpose (e.g., "DoorDash delivery")
4. Miles driven

A notebook, spreadsheet, or app all work. But an app with GPS tracking is the gold standard because it creates an automatic, timestamped, route-mapped record that's very hard for the IRS to dispute.

Standard Mileage Rate vs. Actual Expenses

You must choose one method per vehicle per year:

For most DoorDash and Uber drivers, standard mileage is the better choice. It's simpler and typically results in a higher deduction unless you drive a luxury vehicle or have unusually high maintenance costs.

How GPS Mileage Tracking Works

Modern mileage tracking apps use your phone's GPS to automatically record trips. Here's how most work:

1. The app detects when you start driving (via GPS movement or accelerometer)
2. It records your route in the background
3. When you stop for a set period, it saves the trip
4. You classify the trip as business or personal

Some apps, like GigLedger, go further by automatically detecting delivery stops and splitting multi-stop trips into individual deliveries. This means a 2-hour DoorDash session with 6 deliveries shows up as 6 separate trip segments, each with its own distance.

Common Mileage Tracking Mistakes

• Not tracking at all -- You can't estimate or reconstruct mileage at year-end. The IRS will disallow the deduction without contemporaneous records.
• Forgetting to start the tracker -- Auto-tracking apps solve this by detecting driving automatically.
• Including personal miles -- If you stop for personal errands during a shift, those miles must be excluded.
• Running multiple tracking apps -- Two GPS apps running simultaneously can cause iOS to throttle both, resulting in inaccurate data. Pick one and stick with it.
• Not tracking deadhead miles -- Miles driven between deliveries while waiting for orders are still deductible. Don't only track the delivery itself.

How Much Can You Save?