Charitable Mileage Deduction Explained (2025)
If you’re one of the millions of Americans who volunteer your time (and vehicle) to help charitable organizations, you might be missing out on a valuable tax deduction. The charitable mileage deduction allows you to claim 14 cents per mile in 2025 for driving done in service of qualified nonprofit organizations.
While 14 cents per mile may not sound like much compared to the business mileage rate of 70 cents, active volunteers can still get a meaningful amount back on their taxes. The goal of this deduction is to help offset the costs of using your vehicle for charitable work so that you pay less out of pocket for gas and wear-and-tear while helping others!
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This deduction has stood at 14 cents since 1998, and it’s set by statute rather than adjusted annually like business and medical mileage rates. To qualify, you need to itemize your deductions rather than taking the standard deduction, which makes things a bit more complicated.
Here’s what you need to know.
What Qualifies for the Charitable Mileage Deduction?
Not every mileage driven to or for a charity automatically qualifies for the deduction. Your driving must be directly related to providing services for a qualified charitable organization.
The organization you’re volunteering for must be recognized by the IRS as a tax-exempt charity. Most religious organizations, government entities, and established nonprofits automatically qualify, but you can verify any organization’s status using the IRS’s online search tool.
Your volunteer work also has to be the primary purpose of the trip, not just an incidental stop during your personal travels. E.g., driving to the food bank to deliver meals qualifies, but stopping by a charity thrift store while running personal errands doesn’t count.
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You can deduct miles driven to and between volunteer activities, and while performing charitable services like transporting supplies or other volunteers. However, like with most deductions, your daily commute to a regular volunteering position you have generally wouldn’t qualify, just like commuting to a regular job.
You also won’t be able to deduct mileage for a volunteer trip that, say, doubles as a vacation, or one that you are a participant in rather than a volunteer. You also can only deduct unreimbursed expenses, so if the charity pays for your gas or mileage, for example, you can’t claim the 14 cent deduction.
How to Track and Claim the Charity Deduction
The IRS requires detailed documentation for charitable mileage deductions, so proper tracking is essential rather than trying to reconstruct your records frantically at tax time. You’ll need to maintain records showing the date, purpose, starting and end locations, and total miles driven for each charitable trip.
You have two options for calculating your deduction: the standard charitable mileage rate of 14 cents per mile, or deducting your actual vehicle expenses. Most volunteers find using the standard rate to be much simpler, since it only requires tracking the miles you’ve driven rather than keeping receipts for gas, oil, and other vehicle costs.
If you choose the actual expense method, you can only deduct gas and oil costs, not insurance, repairs, depreciation, or other vehicle expenses that are allowed for business use. Given these limitations and the record-keeping complexities, the standard mileage rate is usually more beneficial and easier to manage.
Regardless of which method you choose, you can also deduct parking fees and tolls that you incurred during your charitable driving. Make sure you keep receipts for these expenses since they’re claimed separately from your charitable mileage deduction.
The Best Way to Track Your Charitable Miles
By far the best way to make sure all of your charitable miles you drive are tracked accurately with all necessary information is with an automatic mileage tracker app like TripLog. It can also auto-classify certain drives as charitable for you if you set up your auto-classification rules!
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You can also use OCR receipt capture to upload your receipts and create IRS-ready entries. TripLog also is the only mileage tracker to offer truly free unlimited automatic mileage tracking!
How to Claim the Charitable Miles Deduction
To claim this deduction, you’ll report it on Schedule A (Itemized Deductions) as part of your charitable contributions. Simply multiply your total charitable miles by 14 cents (0.14) and enter the result on line 17 of Schedule A, along with any tolls and parking fees.
Remember that you can only benefit from this deduction if your total itemized deductions exceed the standard deduction. For 2025, the standard deduction was $15,000 for single filers and $30,000 for married couples filing jointly (these numbers may change for 2026), so calculate your total itemized deductions before deciding whether to itemize.
Common mistakes include claiming personal mileage as charitable, failing to maintain proper documentation, and forgetting that you must itemize to claim the deduction. Keeping organized records throughout the year and understanding what qualifies prevents these issues.
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Charitable Mileage Deduction Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How much can I deduct for charitable mileage?
A: You can deduct 14 cents per mile driven for qualified charitable activities (plus any tolls or parking fees). There’s no limit on the total amount, but you must itemize deductions to claim it.
Q: Can I deduct mileage for driving to volunteer at my church?
A: Yes, if you’re providing services like teaching, administrative work, or maintenance. However, simply attending religious services doesn’t qualify as volunteer work for mileage deduction purposes.
Q: What records do I need to keep for charitable mileage?
A: Maintain a lot showing the date, purpose, starting and ending locations, and miles driven for each trip. Apps like TripLog can automate this process and generate IRS-compliant reports.
Q: Can I use both the standard charitable mileage rate and actual expenses?
A: No, you must choose one method for the entire tax year. The standard mileage rate of 14 cents per mile is usually simpler and more beneficial than tracking actual gas and oil expenses.
Q: Do I need receipts from the charity to prove my volunteer work?
A: While not required, having documentation from the charity about your volunteer activities can support your mileage deduction. The key is proving the charitable purpose of your driving.
Charitable Mileage Deduction Guide Conclusion
The charitable deduction offers a modest but legitimate way to reduce your tax burden while supporting causes you care about. The key to success is maintaining detailed records throughout the year and understanding what activities qualify.
Tools like TripLog make this record keeping process automatic, ensuring you capture every deductible mile while staying compliant with IRS requirements. Download TripLog on iOS or Android and start tracking unlimited mileage for free!