Thrift runs, estate sales, storage-unit auctions, the trip to drop packages at the post office — if you're driving to do any of it, that mileage is a real, IRS-recognized business deduction. Most resellers either forget to log it at all, or log it against a flat yearly rate they half-remember from a forum post. In 2026, the flat-rate assumption is the more expensive mistake: the IRS moved the rate mid-year, something it rarely does, and a trip in March deducts differently than the same trip in August.
What actually changed
The standard mileage rate for business use of a vehicle started 2026 at 72.5 cents a mile, up from 70 cents in 2025. That's a normal annual adjustment, and it's what most resellers still have in their heads.
Then, citing the run-up in fuel prices over the first half of the year, the IRS raised it again for the back half of 2026 — to 76 cents a mile, effective July 1, 2026. Mid-year mileage changes are unusual; the IRS last did one during the 2022 gas-price spike. The two rates aren't retroactive or interchangeable: miles driven January through June deduct at 72.5 cents, miles driven July 1 through December 31 deduct at 76 cents. Whichever CPA or software totals your year needs to know where the line falls, not just the annual total.
What actually counts as deductible sourcing mileage
For most resellers working from home, driving from your house to a thrift store, estate sale, storage-unit auction, or the post office to ship orders is deductible business mileage — home-based sellers don't have a "commute" to subtract the way an office employee would, because the trip starts at your principal place of business. What doesn't count: mileage that's mixed with a personal errand on the same trip without separating the miles, and any driving you've already claimed under a different method for that vehicle.
You have to pick a method for a given vehicle and (mostly) stick with it: the standard mileage rate above, or actual expenses — gas, insurance, depreciation, repairs, prorated by business-use percentage. Standard mileage is simpler and what most part-time resellers use; if you lease the vehicle, picking standard mileage locks you into it for the full lease term. Either way, the IRS wants a contemporaneous log: date, where you went, the business purpose, and the miles — not a number you back into every April.
A worked example
Say you run sourcing trips averaging 60 miles round trip, about once a week, 50 weeks a year — 3,000 miles of legitimate business driving.
- 1,500 miles, January–June, at 72.5 cents: $1,087.50
- 1,500 miles, July–December, at 76 cents: $1,140.00
- Total deduction: $2,227.50
Deduct the whole year at the old 2025 rate of 70 cents out of habit, and you'd claim $2,100 — $127.50 left on the table for no reason other than not knowing the rate moved. Use an even older number that's still floating around reseller forums and spreadsheets, and the gap gets wider. Mileage is one of the few deductions that costs a reseller nothing to claim beyond keeping a log, so an outdated rate is pure unclaimed money, not a rounding error.
What to actually do
- Split your log at July 1, 2026. Don't apply one rate to the whole
- year — total the miles in each half separately.
- Log trips as they happen, even just date, destination, and miles in a
- notes app. Reconstructing six months of thrift-store visits from memory in
- April is where most resellers quietly undercount.
- Keep it to genuine business driving. A sourcing trip that turns into
- grabbing groceries on the way home doesn't disqualify the trip, but don't
- pad the miles for the detour.
- Recheck the rate before you file, not before you drive. The IRS can
- adjust it again, and the number that matters is the one in effect on the
- date of each trip.
PalmFlow's Expenses ledger has a Mileage category built in, alongside supplies, subscriptions, and the rest of what doesn't attach to a single item — log a trip once, mark it deductible, and it flows straight into your net profit instead of sitting in a shoebox until tax season. Expenses is part of the paid plans; the free plan still covers per-item cost basis and fees on 50 items, no card. If mileage is the deduction you keep meaning to start tracking, here's what else lands on your real margin besides the price tag.
Disclaimer: this is general information, not tax advice. Mileage rates and the rules around switching methods can change — verify the current rate and your own situation with a CPA or at IRS.gov before you file.