The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced a change to the milage rate for reimbursement for 2024. Starting January 1, 2025, the mileage rate for business use will increase to 70 cents per mile for business use.
These rates apply to all types of vehicles, including fully electric, hybrid, gasoline, and diesel-powered cars, vans, pickups, and panel trucks.
Employers should use this mileage reimbursement rate as the basis for paying employees who use their personal vehicles to drive within the scope of employment for employers. For example, if an employee goes to work and in the middle of the workday the employer asks the employee to drive the employee’s own car to pick up printer paper and ink for the office, then the employer must reimburse the employee the expense of using the employee’s personal vehicle.
Many employers fail to reimburse mileage, and employees often do not realize that they have a legal right to reimbursement. As a rule, employees should never have to pay for any necessary work-related expense, unless the law provides some narrow exception, which employers better be able to identify. Some of the most common personal expenses that employers fail to pay for are employees’ personal cell phone, computer, and car usage for work.