The IRS just did something it rarely does: it raised the standard mileage rate in the middle of the year. In Notice 2026-10 (Internal Revenue Bulletin 2026-29), the business standard mileage rate climbed to 76 cents per mile effective July 1, 2026 — up from the 72.5 cents that applied for the first half of the year.
If you drive for your rental business — and almost every host and property manager does — that's real money on your Schedule E. Here's what changed and how to make sure you capture it.
The new rates at a glance
| Purpose | Jan 1 – Jun 30, 2026 | Jul 1 – Dec 31, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Business | 72.5¢ / mile | 76¢ / mile |
| Medical & moving* | 20.5¢ / mile | 23.5¢ / mile |
| Charitable | 14¢ / mile | 14¢ / mile (fixed by statute) |
*The moving-expense rate applies only to active-duty members of the Armed Forces; the moving deduction is otherwise suspended. The charitable rate is set by law under §170(i) and doesn't move with the others.
For rental property owners and managers, the one that matters is the business rate: 76 cents per mile for the second half of 2026.
Why mileage matters for rental property
The miles you drive to run your rental business are a legitimate, deductible operating expense against your rental income. That includes trips to:
- Visit or inspect a property — turnovers, maintenance checks, seasonal walk-throughs
- Meet or supervise contractors, cleaners, and vendors
- Handle guest or tenant issues in person
- Run supply errands — the hardware store, furnishings, cleaning supplies
- Show a unit or meet a prospective long-term tenant
At 76 cents a mile, these add up fast. A manager who puts 500 business miles on their vehicle in the back half of the year is looking at a $380 deduction — and for anyone running multiple properties across a region, annual mileage in the thousands is common.
The mid-year change creates a wrinkle: 2026 has two rates
Because the rate changed on July 1, your 2026 mileage log effectively has two halves:
- Trips through June 30 → 72.5¢
- Trips from July 1 on → 76¢
If you calculate everything at a single flat rate, you'll either shortchange your deduction or overstate it. The clean approach is to log each trip with its date and let the correct rate apply automatically.
Standard mileage vs. actual expenses
You generally have two ways to deduct vehicle costs for your rental activity:
- Standard mileage rate — multiply your business miles by the IRS rate. Simple, and it folds in gas, maintenance, insurance, and depreciation.
- Actual expenses — track and deduct the business-use portion of real costs.
The standard mileage rate is the far simpler option for most hosts and small managers. A couple of rules worth knowing: to use the standard rate on a vehicle, you generally have to choose it in the first year the car is used for the activity, and special rules apply to leased vehicles. When in doubt, your CPA can confirm which method fits.
The one thing that makes or breaks the deduction: your log
The IRS expects a contemporaneous record — kept as you go, not reconstructed in April. For each business trip, capture:
- Date
- Miles driven
- Purpose (which property, what you did)
A consistent log is what turns "I drive a lot for my rentals" into a defensible deduction.
How hostli handles this for you
This is exactly the kind of thing hostli is built to keep straight. You log a mileage expense with the date and miles, tag it to the property, and hostli applies the correct IRS rate for that date automatically — including the mid-2026 split, so first-half trips use 72.5¢ and second-half trips use 76¢ without you having to think about it. Everything flows into your property's expenses and your tax-readiness view, ready for your CPA at year-end.
This article is general information, not tax advice. Mileage rules — including which trips qualify and which method you can use — depend on your specific facts. Confirm your situation with a qualified tax professional. Source: IRS Notice 2026-10, Internal Revenue Bulletin 2026-29.