IRS Announces 2014 Standard Mileage Rates for Business, Medical and Moving

The Internal Revenue Service recently announced the 2014 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.

Starting Jan. 1, 2014, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (in addition to vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be 56 cents per mile for business miles driven, 23.5 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes, and 14 cents per mile driven in order to serve charitable organizations.

The IRS notes that taxpayers are not allowed to use the business standard mileage rate for a vehicle after using any depreciation method under the Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS) or after claiming a Section 179 deduction for that vehicle. Furthermore, the business standard mileage rate cannot be used for more than four vehicles used at the same time.

For more information, see Notice 2013-80, which contains the standard mileage rates, the amount taxpayers must use to calculate reductions to basis for depreciation taken under the business standard mileage rate, and the maximum standard automobile cost   taxpayers may use to calculate the allowance under a fixed and variable rate plan.