Anything tax related is messy. Want an example of how messy? How about the fact we’re going to have two different mileage rates for 2022!

That’s right, per the IRS today, the last 6 months of 2022 will have different mileage rates than the first 6 months of 2022.

If you are a Schedule C business owner, you’re going to need to make sure you’ve captured your mileage for the first half, and separately for the second half, of the year. If you are an employee with mileage reimbursement, the switch-over on a Thursday to Friday is likely to make a payroll mess for you.

I’m not sure how a 4 cent a mile difference is supposed to make a difference, given that this is to “better reflect the recent increase in fuel prices,” because it doesn’t match up nearly as much as we would all like. My family has never paid more than $50/fill up on our 18 gallon tank car – that is, until this week, when it was over $70. How much a difference will $0.04/mile make for you? Let’s do that math together.

If your car gets 25 miles to the gallon, that’s a $0.04*25 = $1/gallon increase. It still doesn’t keep up with the $1.89/gallon price increases ($2.85 a year ago -> $4.72 as of today) we’ve already been seeing here in Minnesota over where prices were a year ago, but it will help.

Do note that the volunteer mileage rate is once again static. It’s fixed by law and doesn’t have an inflation adjustment, until Congress changes the law to adjust that.