Guides
Short answers to the things that actually cost US freelancers money. Every figure links to the IRS or SSA page it came from, so you can check it on the day you read it rather than trusting that we were right last year.
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The 2026 IRS mileage rate changed on July 1 — what that does to your deduction
29 September 2026
72.5¢ through June, 76¢ from July. Applying one rate to the whole year understates every mile you drove after 1 July — and applying the new one to the whole year overstates the first half, which is the worse mistake. Both figures, both IRS sources, and what it costs at 10,000 and 30,000 miles.
Work out your own number
Our free calculator does the 2026 self-employment tax arithmetic and tells you what share of every payment to set aside. It runs in your browser — nothing is sent anywhere, and there is no sign-up in the way.
Open the calculator