IRS Medical And Charitable Mileage Rates And Tips

In this article about medical and charitable mileage you can learn what exactly Medical and Charitable mileage is, the current rates per mile, when they apply and what documentation you need to claim your medical and charity-related deductions.

Medical and charity rates in 2024

The 2024 IRS standard rates, applicable from January 1 until December 31, 2024 are:

• 21 cents per mile for medical or moving purposes for qualified active-duty members of the Armed Forces, a cent lower than the 2023 rate
• 14 cents per mile for charity-related miles: the rate is set by statute and remains unchanged.

Medical and charity rates 2023

From January 1 till December 31, 2023, the rates are as follows:

• 22 cents per mile driven for medical, or moving purposes
• 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations.

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Medical mileage rate 2022

The medical mileage rate 2022 was 18 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes until June 30, 2022, and 22 cents per mile from July 1st till the end of the year. See all mileage rates here.

What is included in the medical mileage rate

Trips to the doctor, as well as other hospital or dentist visits, are eligible for medical mileage rate deductions. However, it is not every medical visit that you can get reimbursement for. The ones you can are usually not covered by your employer in your healthcare plan. However, while the medical deduction can save you a lot of money, the rates are limited by your adjusted gross income.

This means that the total amount you can claim for medical reasons cannot exceed a particular limit. This figure is based on your adjusted taxable income and takes your age into consideration as well.

You can deduct medical expenses only if they exceed 7.5% of a person’s adjusted gross income. This means that if you earn $100,000 per year, you can claim medical deductions if they are over $7500 (you can’t claim any deductions up to $7500). Read more in this IRS publication.

Expenditures for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, as well as payments for treatments affecting any structure or function of the body, are included in medical care expenses.

How to calculate medical mileage with the IRS medical mileage rate

To calculate your medical miles, you can use the standard medical miles rate.

Let's say you had to travel 200 miles for medical care in November 2023. To calculate your deduction you would have to multiply the 200 miles you had to drive by the 18 cents per mile rate.

200 (miles you drove) * 0.22 = $44

$44 is the amount you can claim as a medical deduction.

How to calculate your medical deductions

Above you can find one example of calculating your medical write-off. However, you can also use our mileage calculator to quickly get an estimate for 2023. The mileage calculator takes into account the medical mileage rate for 2023.

Medical reasons you can’t get a deduction for

There are some medical mileage expenses you cannot get write-offs for. You cannot claim a medical mileage deduction for journeys that are related to improving your overall health. For example, if you are in perfect health and want to visit your doctor for some vitamin shots, this does not go toward your deductible medical mileage.

Furthermore, you must always have scheduled your session or check-up in some way (like email, in person or by phone) before claiming mileage for it.

Charitable mileage rate

Another possible deduction? Yes, apart from business and medical, there is a mileage rate set for charitable deductions. The mileage rate for charitable deductions in 2023 and 2024 is $0.14 per mile driven.

Charitable deductions are those you can deduct when you volunteer or do some sort of non-profit work. For example, if you drive to volunteer at a nonprofit organization, that mileage is deductible as part of your charitable donations.

Why the charitable mileage rate is so low

It may seem to you that the charitable mileage rate is rather low compared to others and the reason for that may be that it is the only rate which has not changed in many years. The standard mileage rates for business and medical change every year, while the one for charity has not changed since 1998. To get it changed, Congress will have to amend it.

Using the actual costs method for charitable miles

Alternative to using the standard charity mileage rate, you can also use the actual cost method to get write-offs for your volunteer work. In the actual costs you can include costs you incur such as gasoline and oil, but not costs related to maintenance or general repairs, costs of tires or insurance. None of the fixed costs, such as depreciation and tax, are accepted for charitable or medical mileage calculations.

What if I am driving someone else who will volunteer?

You cannot claim deductions for someone else volunteering whether it is a spouse, your child or someone else. You can only claim deduction when it is you who is volunteering and have to drive to the place of volunteering with your own vehicle.

Can I deduct mileage if I am helping someone in need, for example a friend?

No, according to the IRS, you can only deduct mileage for charity when you volunteer for a qualified organization. However, you must also not indicate that your contribution is for a specific person - “Contributions to individuals who are needy or worthy. You cannot deduct these contri­butions even if you make them to a quali­fied organization for the benefit of a spe­cific person. But you can deduct a contribution to a qualified organization that helps needy or worthy individuals if you do not indicate that your contribution is for a specific person.” Source.

Organizations considered as qualified for charitable reimbursement

Non-profit organizations that are religious, benevolent, educational, scientific, or literary in nature, or that aim to prevent cruelty to children or animals, are all considered qualified. Descriptions of these organizations can be found under the heading Organizations That Qualify To Receive Deductible Contributions in Publication 526 by the IRS.

What if I take the bus/metro/train or another form of transport for charity?

If you are not using your car, but taking public transport instead, you can still get reimbursed for your commute to the non-profit organization. Make sure to keep any receipts you may have and that all costs are directly related to the services you provide and are not personal, living, or family costs (and thus, of course, not previously reimbursed).

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How to report charitable and medical mileage

To properly report your charitable mileage, you need to do the same thing as when you report your business and medical mileage - keep a logbook. You need to keep a proper logbook where you mark what kind of trip you drove with your car - business, personal, medical or charity. That way you will easily have all the data you need for quickly figuring out your tax claims.

One way to easily track and log all your trips while sorting them properly, is by using the Driversnote app. With our mileage tracker app, you can track all trips automatically and make sure you have all the needed information recorded.

After you generate your trips report, you can hand it over to your employer or accountant and there shouldn’t be anything else left for you to do. Using an app is one of the easiest ways to track and log mileage today for business, medical, charity or personal purposes.

For information on reporting your business mileage you can check out our IRS mileage guide where you can find information for employers, employees and the self-employed.

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