Every year, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issues optional standard mileage rates for business travel. If your organization follows the mileage rates issued by the IRS, you may consider updating the mileage rates in Sage Expense Management as per the latest IRS rates so that your employees are duly reimbursed.
For 2026, the IRS has issued two rates: the original rate announced for the year, and a revised rate effective July 1, 2026, due to rising fuel prices.
Original 2026 rate announcement - 72.5¢/mile, effective January 1, 2026
Revised rate announcement - 76¢/mile, effective July 1, 2026
How to update your mileage rate?
To stay up to date with the revised rates, please follow the steps mentioned below:
Navigate to your Admin Settings > Expenses > Mileage.
Click on the Add mileage rate button.
In the pop-up box that appears, name the rate something easy to recognize - example,
IRS Rate Jul-Dec 2026and enter$0.76(76¢) as the rate.Read more about annual slab rate here if required.
Once the details are filled in, click on Add mileage rate.
Once you've added the new rate, we recommend disabling your existing rate (or renaming it to something like IRS Rate Jan-Jun 2026 if you'd like to keep it around for trips before July 1) so employees don't accidentally select an outdated rate for new mileage expenses.
FAQs:
Does Sage Expense Management automatically update the mileage rate as per IRS guidelines?
No. Sage Expense Management doesn't update the mileage rates automatically. However, if you want us to update the mileage rates on your behalf, please let us know at [email protected]. We would be happy to help.
My employees still need to file mileage expenses for trips before July 1, 2026. How do I let them use the old rate alongside the new one?
To do this:
Rename your current mileage rate to something like
IRS Rate Jan-Jun 2026(it already has the old rate value, so no change needed there).Add a new rate named
IRS Rate Jul-Dec 2026for trips from July 1, 2026 onward, following the steps above.Ask employees to select the rate that matches their trip date:
IRS Rate Jan-Jun 2026for earlier trips,IRS Rate Jul-Dec 2026for trips on or after July 1.Once all expenses for the earlier period have been created, disable
IRS Rate Jan-Jun 2026so only the current rate remains available going forward.
An employee created a mileage expense using the old rate for a trip on or after July 1, 2026. How do I correct it?
To do this:
Open the affected expense.
Edit it and select the updated mileage rate from the dropdown.
Save the expense and the amount will recalculate automatically based on the new rate.
Note: We'd recommend reviewing any mileage expenses created between July 1, 2026 and the date you update your organization's rate, to make sure they reflect the correct amount.
Feel free to contact our support team at [email protected] for any further information.