2018 Medical Mileage Deduction

Each year the medical mileage allowance, as the IRS likes to call it, changes.

This year 2018 it is up a penny from last year to 18 cents a mile. Back in 2016 it was 19 cents per mile. That was 2 cents per mile higher than the 17 cent 2017 mileage rate.

In 2013 it was 24 cents a mile, but then in 2014 it has gone down to 23.5 cents a mile for medical miles driven.

In 2015 the rate was nice as they had set it at 23 cents per mile.

People are eager to know how the tax situation is going to go for them.

Releasing the numbers gives them a head first idea about where they will stand tax wise.

Most people have paid for the car and drive a lot of miles on business, but the medical mileage is a less often used deduction.

For those to whom it applies, it is a saving grace to cover the cost of the fuel to get there and a little bit more.

On the business mileage page, we discussed the advantage of using mileage as a deduction form rather than real costs. For most of us using business miles adding the medical miles in is a bonus.

The medical miles trip

Might be 50 miles each way once a week. That adds up to a 100 mile round trip weekly.

If you have the 18 cent deduction, then you will be getting $18.00 for the trip as an allowance on your tax return.

Now that pays about what the gas will cost. I get 20 miles to the gallon on my car, and I use just under 5 gallons for the trip.

I'll end up using about $12.50 to pay for gas but collect a deduction of $18.00 for the trip.

Don't forget the deduction also available for tolls and parkings fees - they are deductible as well.

So the thing here is

That $18.00 - $12.50 = $5.50 and that advantage of five - fifty is all for me.

This is certainly better than nothing as an advantage.

The amount for medical mileage deduction isn't much but actually covers the cost for gas for most of us, and that is good.

If you drive the same trip once a week for 10 weeks, then you would gain the allowance of $180.00 and of that your cost might be $125.00 leaving you with a bonus of $55.00!

Don't for get to use the free to print out mileage log on this site to keep track of your miles.