The IRS mileage rate was designed to be a tax deduction tool for individual taxpayers, but it has become the standard rate for business vehicle reimbursements. The results are costlier than you think.
The IRS business mileage rate is often the default way companies reimburse employees for use of their vehicles. It’s easy to calculate at 65.5 cents per mile for 2023 and 67 cents/mile for 2024. However, with that ease comes hidden costs.
The IRS mileage rate, also known as the federal "safe harbor rate," is not the best way to deliver auto reimbursements. Why? For three glaring reasons:
In a nutshell, the federal safe harbor rate over-reimburses high-mileage travelers and under-reimburses low-mileage travelers. These inequitable results can lead to employee dissatisfaction as well as uncontrollable costs if you employ a lot of high-mileage drivers.
Each employee experiences different costs, so how can only one rate reimburse all employees fairly? As an auto reimbursement method, the federal rate offers anything but a "safe harbor." Here are three of the six components for calculating the IRS business mileage rate:
The other three cost variables also move the calculations even further from being accurate. If some employees live in areas with above average gas prices and above average insurance costs, the IRS rate may fall short of their expense needs, especially if they are not a high-mileage driver.
The biggest disparity arises because of fixed costs like depreciation, insurance, taxes, and registration. A driver has to drive a certain number of miles each month to cover these expenses. This is why low mileage drivers often experience the IRS rate as an insufficient auto reimbursement.
For 2023, the IRS reported that, out of the 65.5 cents per mile, the portion calculated to cover depreciation was 28 cents per mile. Keep in mind, however, that depreciation is based more on the age of the vehicle than on the number of miles driven. So a driver who drives below the average number of miles is not actually equalizing their vehicle's depreciation through that 28 cents per mile.
The lesson? Drive more, earn more – which leads to the second fatal flaw in using the IRS mileage rate for auto reimbursements.
Cost control poses one of the biggest challenges effective organizations must face. The federal mileage rate encourages "driving for dollars." If you pay the IRS rate as an auto reimbursement, your costs depend on two factors – an inaccurate mileage rate and employees’ mileage reporting.
Let’s consider the factor of employee-reported mileage. When providing an unquantifiable mileage rate, it is unreasonable to expect your employees to accept the rate as is. When employees experience gas price or insurance rate increases within their driving territories yet the mileage rate remains the same, they will drive more to offset increase costs. They may
No one wants to suspect their employees of dishonesty. But is it right to position employees to have to choose between acting with integrity and covering cost deficits? In the end, many employees will act in their self-interest.
To re-take control of your costs, you need to calculate an accurate rate based on actual real time costs along with a mileage tracking app. One way to calculate an accurate rate is to used the fixed and variable rate model, also known as FAVR, and alternate vehicle reimbursement plan promoted by the IRS. Try comparing costs of paying the IRS business rate vs. a FAVR rate that matches your employees' variable costs:
The federal safe harbor rate has long been the standard auto reimbursement for states like California, Massachusetts, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Rhode Island to comply with their employee expense indemnification labor codes. But the tax reform of 2017 has put some organizations at the risk of labor code violations.
As stated in the IRS publication governing the 2023 standard mileage rates and FAVR rates,
The business standard mileage rate provided in this notice cannot be used to claim an itemized deduction for unreimbursed employee travel expenses during the suspension.
Until this rule expires in 2026, employees cannot write off unreimbursed business expenses. Only self-employed contractors may use the IRS rate for tax deduction purposes.
For low mileage drivers, there’s often a gap between their expenses and what the IRS rate pays. These employees can seek recourse under indemnification labor codes in eight different states. Three other states can also enforce sufficient reimbursement of expenses. If you have employees working in employee-friendly states, it is more crucial than ever to pay a rate you can quantify, unlike the IRS rate.
There are alternatives to the IRS mileage rate that will properly reimburse all of your employees, control costs, and adhere to labor codes in employee-friendly states.
The only thing that is good about using the IRS mileage rate as a vehicle reimbursement is that it is easy. It’s also easy to lose control of costs and to create dissatisfied employees. Take control of your costs, and evaluate your car reimbursement policy today.