Can you deduct mileage for volunteering?
Yes, if you itemize: 14 cents a mile, or what you actually spent on gas and oil, plus parking and tolls. The rate is set by law and doesn’t move with the business rate.
The rule
Driving your own car to give services to a charity, and back, is deductible: delivering meals, driving to the shelter where you volunteer, taking a scout troop to camp. You can deduct 14 cents for each mile, or the gas and oil you actually used.
Parking and tolls go on top either way. Repairs, depreciation, insurance, tires and registration don’t count.
Only unreimbursed costs count. If the charity pays you back, there is nothing to deduct.
1,200 miles delivering meals over a year is $168 at 14 cents a mile, counted if you itemize.
- Without itemizing
- Not settled by the IRS yet
- If you itemize
- 14 cents a mile
- What to keep
- A log made at the time: the charity, the dates and the miles, or the gas receipts if you use what you spent. Over $250 in one go, the charity’s acknowledgment of what you did.
- Watch for
- Out-of-pocket costs for a charity are reported with cash gifts if you itemize. Whether they also count toward the $1,000 deduction without itemizing, the IRS hasn’t said yet, so Reimburse counts them only when you itemize.
Checked on October 2, 2026 against Publication 526, Charitable Contributions and 26 U.S.C. 170, charitable contributions. An estimate for your records, not tax advice.
Federal tax only. States set their own rules for gifts.
Keep every gift with its receipt.
From 2026, up to $1,000 of cash gifts counts even without itemizing. Reimburse keeps each gift with the charity’s receipt, asks for the paper the IRS wants, and shows what it puts back.