Mileage Rates for Delivery Drivers 2026: US, UK, Canada and Australia

The official business mileage rate in 2026 is 76 cents a mile in the United States (from 1 July), 55 pence a mile in the UK for the first 10,000 miles, 73 cents a kilometre in Canada for the first 5,000 km (an employer ceiling), and 91 cents a kilometre in Australia. The four countries use their numbers in different ways, and a delivery driver can easily claim the wrong thing.

This is a plain summary from each tax office's own page, checked on 28 October 2026. It is not tax advice. Ask an accountant before you claim.

Key takeaways

• US: 76 cents per mile from 1 July 2026, 72.5 cents from 1 January to 30 June (IRS).
• UK: 55p per mile for the first 10,000 miles from 6 April 2026, then 25p (GOV.UK).
• Canada: 73 cents per km for the first 5,000 km, then 67 cents. This is the most an employer can pay tax-free. It is not a deduction rate for the self-employed.
• Australia: 91 cents per km for 2026-27, up to 5,000 km (ATO).
• Whatever the rate, fewer miles driven means less fuel and less time.

What are the 2026 mileage rates side by side?

What does a mileage rate actually cover?

A mileage rate is a flat amount per mile or kilometre that stands in for fuel, wear, insurance and so on. If you use it, you usually cannot also claim those costs one by one. Each country has its own rules about who can use it, so check yours first.

How much is that in a real year?

The sums below are simple multiplications of the published rates. They show how each rule behaves, not what you may claim.

The UK row shows why the 10,000-mile line matters. Miles after 10,000 are paid at 25p, so a busy van driver earns less for every extra mile. The Canada row shows the ceiling for an employer allowance, not an amount a self-employed courier can deduct.

Which catch trips up delivery drivers most?

• Canada is the one people get wrong. The 73 cents is a ceiling for what an employer can pay tax-free. A self-employed courier works out vehicle costs a different way, so do not simply multiply kilometres by 73 cents.
• The UK has a mile limit. After 10,000 miles the rate drops to 25p.
• The US rate changed mid-year in 2026. Miles before 1 July use 72.5 cents, miles after use 76 cents, so keep a dated log.
• Australia caps the method at 5,000 km a year. Above that you need a logbook method, which has its own rules.
• A rate is not a cost. If your real fuel and wear are higher than the rate pays, the rate does not make you whole.

Why do fewer miles matter more than the rate?

Whatever the rate is, a flat rate pays you for miles, but your fuel and your time cost money for every one of them. A route that is 48 km shorter on the day saves that fuel and about an hour and a half of driving, whatever you claim afterwards. That is the gap from one real route: a list of eight New York stops in no particular order was 85.9 km as listed and 37.9 km in MiliRoute's order. It was a deliberately bad list, so yours will be different; see the New York example.

Use the fuel cost per route calculator with your own numbers to see what a shorter route is worth to you.

What records should you keep?

• The date, start and end of each trip, and why you drove it.
• The distance. A route planner shows the driving distance for the whole day, which gives you a starting figure to check against your odometer.
• Receipts for anything else you claim, such as parking.
• The odometer reading at the start and end of the tax year.

Seven ways to drive fewer miles without delivering less

1. Order the stops before you leave. The order is the biggest lever. A list in arrival order is almost never the quickest.
2. Group by area, not by customer. If two customers are in the same street, they belong in the same part of the day.
3. Pin the stops that cannot move. A stop that must be first or last stays there; the rest are ordered around it.
4. Start from the right place. If you leave from home, a first stop near home saves the empty leg.
5. Put regular stops in favourites. Saved addresses cut typing mistakes, and mistakes cost miles.
6. Check the day afterwards. Compare the distance planned with the odometer and note why they differ.
7. Re-plan when the list changes. A late order can change the best order for the whole day, not just add one stop at the end.

None of these needs special equipment. They are habits, and a route planner makes the first three nearly automatic. See how to plan a delivery route for multiple stops for the full routine.

Questions

What is the IRS mileage rate for 2026?

The IRS lists 76 cents per mile for business use from 1 July to 31 December 2026, and 72.5 cents per mile from 1 January to 30 June 2026. For 2025 it was 70 cents per mile for the whole year.

What is the HMRC mileage rate for a van or car?

For simplified expenses, 55p per mile for the first 10,000 miles from 6 April 2026 (it was 45p before), then 25p per mile after that. Motorcycles are 24p.

Can a self-employed courier in Canada claim 73 cents per km?

Not automatically. The 73 cents is the highest rate at which an employer can pay a tax-free allowance. Self-employed people calculate vehicle expenses by another method, so ask an accountant.

What is the ATO cents per kilometre rate?

91 cents per kilometre for 2026-27 and 88 cents for 2025-26, for up to 5,000 km. Our calculator multiplies it for you.

Do these rates change?

Yes, usually once a year, and the US changed twice in 2026. Check the linked page before you file.

Sources

• IRS: standard mileage rates, read 28 October 2026
• GOV.UK: simplified expenses for vehicles, read 28 October 2026
• Department of Finance Canada, 14 January 2026
• ATO: cents per kilometre method, last updated 12 August 2026 according to that page

Last updated 28 October 2026. Not tax advice.