Standard mileage rates up for 2018, IRS announces

The Internal Revenue Service issued the 2018 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, 2018, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) are:

■ 54.5 cents for every mile of business travel driven, up one cent from the rate for 2017.

■ 18 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes, up one cent from the rate for 2017.

■ 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations.

The business mileage rate and the medical and moving expense rates each increased one cent per mile from the rates for 2017.

The standard mileage rate for business is based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile. Taxpayers always have the option of calculating the actual costs of using their vehicle rather than using the standard mileage rates, the IRS said. The rate for medical and moving purposes is based on the variable costs.

For more information, go to irs.gov