Home daycare mileage log: 2026 IRS rate and rules

The 2026 standard mileage rate

The IRS changed the business standard mileage rate partway through 2026, so your log needs dates to split the year correctly:

• Jan 1 – June 30, 2026: 72.5 cents per mile for business use (IR-2025-128, Notice 2026-10).
• July 1 – Dec 31, 2026: 76 cents per mile, after the IRS raised the rate because of higher fuel prices (Announcement 2026-11, IRB 2026-29).
• For comparison, the 2025 business rate was 70 cents per mile (IRS standard mileage rates table).

Example of the math (illustrative miles only): 400 business miles logged in March and 300 in September would be 400 × $0.725 + 300 × $0.76. If you only kept an annual total, you could not split it, which is one more reason to log each trip with a date.

Which daycare trips usually count

When your home is your principal place of business, trips from home to another business stop are generally business travel rather than commuting (see the local transportation rules in Publication 463). For a family child care home, trips that commonly qualify include:

• Buying food, supplies, toys or equipment for the daycare.
• Field trips and outings with children in care.
• Required training, CPR / first aid classes, and licensing office visits.
• Trips to the bank to deposit tuition, or to meet a CACFP sponsor or a tax preparer.
• Dropping children at school or picking them up as part of the care you are paid for.

Mixed trips: if you buy daycare and household groceries on the same run, talk with your preparer about how to treat the trip, and keep separate receipts. Purely personal errands do not count.

Standard rate vs actual expenses

You can deduct car costs with the standard mileage rate or with actual expenses (business share of gas, repairs, insurance, depreciation, and so on). Publication 463 sets the rules. A few that matter most:

• For a car you own, you generally must choose the standard rate in the first year you use the car for business if you want the option to use it later.
• For a leased car, choosing the standard rate generally means using it for the whole lease period.
• Business parking fees and tolls can be deducted separately, on top of the standard rate.
• Either way, you still need a mileage record to show your business-use share.

Vehicle costs are reported on Schedule C (Part IV asks about your vehicle). See our Schedule C vs Form 8829 guide for how the forms fit together.

What a mileage log must show

Publication 463 says you should keep adequate records made at or near the time of the trip. For each business trip, record:

1. Date of the trip.
2. Destination (store, park, training site).
3. Business purpose ("daycare groceries", "CPR class").
4. Miles driven, from odometer readings or a reliable map tool.

Also note your odometer reading on January 1 and December 31 so you can show total miles and business miles for the year. A paper notebook in the glovebox, a spreadsheet, or an app all work, as long as entries are made close to the time of the trip. Rebuilding a log from memory in April is much weaker if you are ever examined. Our audit records guide covers how long to keep logs and receipts.

A simple weekly routine

1. Log each trip the same day: date, where, why, miles.
2. Staple or photograph receipts for daycare purchases made on that trip.
3. Every Friday, copy the week into your tax workbook.
4. At year end, apply 72.5¢ to January–June miles and 76¢ to July–December miles (for 2026), or hand the log to your preparer.

Mileage is one line on a bigger list. Our 2026 deductions checklist covers the rest.