Mileage for Business Errands: Bank Deposits, Post Office and Supply Runs (2026 Freelancer Guide)

Published: October 13, 2026 · Reading time: 10 min

TL;DR: Freelancers drive to the bank, the post office and the office supply store constantly, and almost nobody logs those trips. They are worth logging, but the rules are less certain than most guides admit. Publication 463 does not mention bank trips, post office trips or errands at all, so every answer is reasoned from its general rules on commuting, two places of work and the office in the home. A qualifying home office gives the strongest footing; without one, the first and last legs of your day are the weak spots. Log each errand with its date, destination, business purpose and miles, cap any personal detour at the direct route, and value each trip at the rate for its date: 72.5 cents through June 30, 2026 and 76 cents from July 1. In the worked example below, applying 76 cents to a year of errand miles instead of the split rates overstates the deduction by $18.20. This guide is general education, not tax advice.

Most mileage advice is about the glamorous trips: the drive to a client, the shoot across town, the job site. The small errands are different. A ten-minute run to deposit checks, ship a package or grab printer toner does not feel like business travel, so it never reaches the log. Over a year, a few hundred miles of them go unclaimed.

The reason people skip them is also the reason to be careful. The IRS has written a good deal about commuting and almost nothing about errands. This post separates what the publications actually say from what is reasoned by analogy, so you can log errands without overstating them.

For the foundation, see commuting versus business miles and the home-office mileage rule. This post applies both to one situation.

What Publication 463 Says, and What It Leaves Out

We fetched Publication 463 from IRS.gov and searched the text. The words "bank", "post office" and "errand" do not appear anywhere in its transportation discussion. The closest it comes is its list of what transportation expenses include. Publication 463 says transportation expenses include the ordinary and necessary costs of all of the following:

• "Getting from one workplace to another in the course of your business or profession when you are traveling within the city or general area that is your tax home."
• "Visiting clients or customers."
• "Going to a business meeting away from your regular workplace."
• "Getting from your home to a temporary workplace when you have one or more regular places of work."

A bank, a post office and a supply store are not obviously a "workplace", a client or a meeting. That is the gap. The publication does give one hint that meeting suppliers and moving items around are ordinary business driving. In its sampling example it describes a taxpayer who uses a car "to visit the offices of clients, meet with suppliers and other subcontractors, and pick up and deliver items to clients." That is an example about keeping records, not a ruling on errands, so treat it as context rather than authority.

The practical consequence: when a post says errand miles are "always business miles", it is stating a common position, not a quotation from the IRS. We found no IRS publication that addresses a bank or post office errand directly. Treat it as a judgment area and keep strong records.

The Rules That Do Apply

Three rules in Publication 463 decide most errand cases.

1. Commuting is personal. Publication 463 says: "Daily transportation expenses you incur while traveling from home to one or more regular places of business are generally nondeductible commuting expenses."

2. A home office changes the starting point. The same paragraph lists the exceptions. Daily transportation expenses can be deducted if "(2) your residence is your principal place of business and you incur expenses going between the residence and another work location in the same trade or business, regardless of whether the work is temporary or permanent and regardless of the distance." And under the heading "Office in the home", it says: "If you have an office in your home that qualifies as a principal place of business, you can deduct your daily transportation costs between your home and another work location in the same trade or business."

3. No regular office and no home office. Publication 463's third example reads: "You have no regular office and you don't have an office in your home. In this case, the location of your first business contact inside the metropolitan area is considered your office. Transportation expenses between your home and this first contact are nondeductible commuting expenses. Transportation expenses between your last business contact and your home are also nondeductible commuting expenses. While you can't deduct the costs of these trips, you can deduct the costs of going from one client or customer to another."

Put those together and the errand question has three versions:

None of this is a substitute for qualifying the home office properly. Our home-office mileage rule guide covers the regular and exclusive use test.

Chaining Errands Without Overclaiming

Errands rarely come one at a time. You deposit checks, mail orders and pick up toner in a single loop. That is where logging gets easy to get wrong in both directions.

Publication 463 helps on the record-keeping side: "You can account for several uses of your car that can be considered part of a single use, such as a round trip or uninterrupted business use, with a single record. Minimal personal use, such as a stop for lunch on the way between two business stops, isn't an interruption of business use." A chain of business errands can be one log entry that names every stop, so you do not need five lines for five stops.

On the deduction side, the two-places-of-work rule is the cap. Publication 463 says: "If you work at two places in 1 day, whether or not for the same employer, you can deduct the expense of getting from one workplace to the other. However, if for some personal reason you don't go directly from one location to the other, you can't deduct more than the amount it would have cost you to go directly from the first location to the second."

So a chain that ends with a personal stop on the way home is capped at the direct distance for the last leg. Our guide to a personal stop between two clients works that cap through in detail, and the multi-stop, multi-client day guide covers longer routes. Whether a given personal stop is "minimal" or large enough to break up the chain is a judgment call. When in doubt, split the entry.

What the Log Entry Needs

Publication 463's record-keeping table lists the elements for transportation. For car expenses it asks for "the mileage for each business use, and the total miles for the year", "the date of the use of the car", "Your business destination", and the "Business purpose for the expense."

For an errand, that translates to:

"Errands" as a destination is the entry that fails. It tells a reviewer nothing about whether the trip was business. Write the place and the reason. Keep year-start and year-end odometer photos so total annual miles are provable; see odometer readings and mileage logs and the contemporaneous log requirements.

Pair the Mileage Entry With the Receipt

Errands usually come with a purchase or a fee, and the two records prove different things. The mileage entry proves the trip. The receipt proves what you bought and what it cost. Photograph the supply store or shipping receipt the same day, so the log entry and the receipt carry the same date and a reviewer can tie them together. Our guide to what makes a receipt valid lists what the receipt must show, and splitting a mixed business and personal receipt covers the grocery-store-plus-toner problem.

If you use the standard mileage rate, Publication 463 says: "In addition to using the standard mileage rate, you can deduct any business-related parking fees and tolls." Gasoline, however, is not deducted separately, which is why the pump receipt for an errand loop does not belong in the expense column in a standard-rate year. See parking and tolls with the mileage deduction.

The 2026 Rate Is Split, So Errands Are Valued by Date

The IRS lists two business rates for 2026: 72.5 cents per mile for January 1 through June 30 (IR-2025-128) and 76 cents per mile for July 1 through December 31 (IR-2026-29). The rate attaches to the date of the trip. An errand on June 30 is valued at 72.5 cents and the identical errand on July 1 at 76 cents. See the 2026 mileage rate guide for the full background.

Worked Example: A Designer Who Sells Prints

Priya is a freelance graphic designer who also sells prints online. Her home office qualifies as her principal place of business. She uses the standard mileage rate and keeps a log. These two days land on either side of the rate change.

Tuesday, June 30, 2026. Priya runs a chain from her home office: post office to ship print orders, bank to deposit client checks, office supply store to buy toner, then home with a personal stop at a grocery store on the way.

The grocery stop added 0.3 miles over the direct route (0.9 + 2.4 - 3.0). Under the two-places-of-work cap, Priya counts the direct 3.0 miles for the final leg, not the 3.3 she actually drove after the store. Her business total is 2.4 + 1.1 + 1.8 + 3.0, or 8.3 miles. At 72.5 cents that is $6.02.

Wednesday, July 1, 2026. A shorter loop, all business: home office to a shipping store (2.7 miles), to the supply store (1.5 miles), and home (3.4 miles). That is 7.6 miles. At 76 cents it is $5.78.

Both days are the same kind of trip and the same kind of log entry. Only the date changes the rate.

A year of errands. Suppose Priya's log shows 520 errand miles from January through June and 480 from July through December, 1,000 in all.

Applying the July rate to the whole year overstates the deduction by $18.20. It is small on its own, but a mileage log is a record of every entry, and an examiner who finds one rate misapplied has a reason to look at the rest.

What this example does not settle. It assumes Priya's home office qualifies and that the errand trips have a business purpose of their own. If she had no qualifying home office, the first and last legs of her day would be commuting under Example 3, and whether the bank trip counts is the open question described above. The numbers are only as good as that premise.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Logging "errands" as the destination. Name each place and the reason.
2. Claiming the first or last leg of the day with no home office. Publication 463 treats those as commuting.
3. Including the personal stop. Cap the leg at the direct route.
4. Using one rate for the whole year. The 2026 rate changed on July 1.
5. Deducting gas in a standard-rate year. The rate already covers it.
6. Logging the trip but losing the receipt. The receipt proves the purchase.
7. Padding the log after the fact. Reconstructed miles are weaker than same-day entries; see reconstructing a mileage log.
8. Assuming a prior guide's "always deductible" settles it. Publication 463 is silent on errands, so ask your preparer.

How CentSense Helps

CentSense keeps the trip and the purchase in one place:

• Scan the supply store or shipping receipt with AI the day you shop, so the store, date and total are captured. The free tier includes 10 AI scans a month
• Log errand miles by date on the Solo plan ($5/month) with a destination and business purpose for each trip. CentSense's mileage export applies a single annual rate and does not apply the July 1, 2026 split (72.5 cents, then 76 cents) to each trip, so value each trip at the rate for its date
• Export your categorized expenses as CSV so your preparer can match the receipts to the mileage entries

CentSense does not decide whether a bank or post office errand is deductible for you, and it does not decide whether your home office qualifies. Those are judgment calls for you and your CPA or EA. For related reading, see Freelance Photographer Tax Deductions and how to organize receipts for taxes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I deduct the miles to the bank to deposit client checks?

It is a judgment area, and the answer depends partly on whether you have a qualifying home office. Publication 463 does not mention bank trips or errands at all, so any treatment is reasoned from its general rules. If your home is your principal place of business, the publication says you can deduct daily transportation costs between your home and another work location in the same trade or business, and many preparers treat a business deposit trip from a qualifying home office as deductible. Without a qualifying home office, a stop that is not itself a business contact is harder to defend, and a conservative preparer may not allow it. Either way, you need a log entry showing the date, destination, business purpose and miles. Ask a CPA or EA which position fits your facts.

Is a trip to the post office to ship client orders deductible mileage?

Often yes when the trip has a real business purpose, but this is a judgment area because Publication 463 never mentions the post office. The publication lists transportation expenses such as getting from one workplace to another, visiting clients or customers and going to a business meeting away from your regular workplace. A shipping run is not on that list, so the position is reasoned by analogy. A qualifying home office strengthens it, because the publication says daily transportation costs between your home and another work location in the same trade or business can be deducted; without a qualifying home office, a trip from home to the post office and back is the weakest case and may be commuting-like personal travel. Log the date, destination, purpose and miles, and keep the shipping receipt. Ask a CPA or EA how your situation fits.

What if I stop at a store for myself on the way home from a business errand?

Only the direct-route cost is safe to deduct, and that assumes your home office qualifies as your principal place of business; without one, the leg home is generally commuting. Publication 463 says that if you work at two places in one day and for some personal reason do not go directly from one location to the other, you cannot deduct more than the amount it would have cost you to go directly. It also says, in its record-keeping discussion, that minimal personal use, such as a stop for lunch on the way between two business stops, is not an interruption of business use, which helps you keep a single record but does not let you deduct the extra miles of a detour. Write down the personal stop and log the direct distance for that leg. Whether a particular stop is minimal is a judgment call, so ask a CPA or EA if the personal part is large.

Do I need a separate log entry for each errand stop?

Not necessarily. Publication 463 says you can account for several uses of your car that can be considered part of a single use, such as a round trip or uninterrupted business use, with a single record. A chain of bank, post office and supply store can be one entry if every stop is business, as long as the entry names each destination and the business purpose and shows the total miles. The elements the publication lists for car expenses are the date of use, your business destination, the business purpose and the mileage for each business use. If one stop is personal, split the chain so the personal miles stay out. Ask a CPA or EA if a chain mixes purposes.

Which mileage rate applies to an errand in 2026?

The 2026 business rate is split by date. The IRS lists 72.5 cents per mile for January 1 through June 30 (IR-2025-128) and 76 cents per mile from July 1 through December 31 (IR-2026-29). Apply the rate to the miles driven on each date, so an errand on June 30 is valued at 72.5 cents and the same errand on July 1 at 76 cents. If you use the standard mileage rate, business-related parking fees and tolls can be deducted in addition, but gasoline cannot be deducted separately. Ask a CPA or EA if you switched methods during the year.

Do I need the receipt from the supply store as well as a mileage entry?

Yes, they prove different things. The mileage entry proves the trip: the date, the destination, the business purpose and the miles. The store receipt proves the purchase: what you bought, the amount and the date. Matching dates let a reviewer tie the two together, and the receipt supports the business purpose written in the log. A supply run with a mileage entry but no receipt shows you drove somewhere, and a receipt with no mileage entry leaves the miles undeducted. If you lose the receipt, ask the store for a duplicate from its order history. Ask a CPA or EA how to document an unusual purchase.

Can I deduct errand miles if I have no home office and no regular workplace?

It is uncertain, and a conservative approach is to be careful. For that situation Publication 463 says the location of your first business contact inside the metropolitan area is considered your office, that transportation between your home and this first contact is nondeductible commuting, and that the same applies between your last business contact and your home. The publication does not say whether a bank or post office counts as a business contact, so we found no IRS guidance either way. A trip made only for the errand, with a clear business purpose, is the strongest version of the position; an errand tacked onto the first or last leg of the day is the weakest. Ask a CPA or EA before deducting.

Authoritative References

• IRS: Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses
• IRS: Standard mileage rates (2026: 72.5 cents Jan 1 to Jun 30 per IR-2025-128; 76 cents Jul 1 to Dec 31 per IR-2026-29)

Stop leaving errand miles out of the log. Start a free CentSense account, scan the supply store receipt with AI the day you shop, log each errand with its purpose, and export a CPA-ready breakdown at tax time. The free tier includes 10 AI receipt scans a month, no credit card required, and the Solo plan is $5/month for unlimited scans, mileage tracking and CSV export.

This guide is general education for U.S. freelancers filing a Schedule C in 2026. It is not personalized tax advice. Whether a bank, post office or supply trip is deductible, whether your home office qualifies, and how a personal detour is treated are judgment areas, and the facts that drive your numbers should be confirmed by a CPA or EA based on your full situation.