How Do People on Reddit Track Mileage for Taxes?

Reddit's mileage-tracking threads — r/tax, r/selfemployed, r/rideshare — reach a firm consensus: use a GPS mileage app (it logs automatically, so the record is contemporaneous by construction), classify trips promptly (business vs. personal while you remember), and understand that gas receipts aren't the point under the standard mileage rate. The apps named most are MileIQ, Everlance, Stride (free), and the trackers built into QuickBooks Self-Employed. The threads exist because the alternative — reconstructing mileage in April — is the classic audit loss.

This is general information, not tax advice.

The apps Reddit names

MileIQ — the veteran; swipe-to-classify, reliable auto-detection. Everlance — popular free tier, good for gig workers. Stride — free, aimed at self-employed and rideshare. QuickBooks Self-Employed — the pick when you want mileage inside your bookkeeping (the integration logic). The thread consensus on choosing: they all do the core job; pick by free-tier limits and whether you want mileage standalone or bundled with expense tracking. Rideshare drivers add that the platform's own mileage figure understates deductible miles (it omits between-fares and to-first-pickup driving), so a separate tracker usually wins.

The rule Reddit can't repeat enough

Contemporaneous or it doesn't count. The most-upvoted mileage warnings all say it: the IRS wants records made "at or near the time" of the trip, and courts routinely deny reconstructed mileage — mileage falls under the strict-substantiation rules where the Cohan estimate rule doesn't rescue you. A GPS app solves this automatically by logging as you drive; the failure mode is letting weeks of unclassified trips pile up until the memory's gone. Classify weekly.

What a compliant log needs (and apps produce)

The log requirements — date, destination, business purpose, miles, plus annual total and odometer readings — are exactly what app exports contain. The thread point: don't overthink the format, do respect the completeness. "Business purpose" is the field people skip and shouldn't ("client meeting — Acme," not blank).

The gas-receipt confusion, cleared up

The recurring r/tax correction: under the standard mileage rate (70 cents/mile for 2025), fuel is *already included* — so gas receipts substantiate nothing and you don't need them. They only matter under the actual expense method, where you deduct the business-use share of real vehicle costs. Most self-employed people use the standard rate; most therefore need a mileage log and no gas receipts at all — a point that surprises posters every year. Parking and tolls remain separately deductible and do need receipts.

The commuting trap the threads flag

r/tax regulars keep correcting the same error: home-to-regular-workplace is commuting, nondeductible under both methods no matter what an app logs. Deductible miles run between work locations, to client sites, or from a qualifying home office to business stops. Apps track the miles; you classify which ones actually qualify.

The bottom line

Reddit's mileage playbook: a GPS app (MileIQ, Everlance, Stride, or QuickBooks) doing contemporaneous logging, weekly classification, gas receipts ignored under the standard rate, commuting excluded. Install one today rather than reconstructing next April — the reconstruction is the thing the threads are full of warnings about.