Arkansas keeps a proclamation rate for the state income tax deduction and a separate travel rate for state employees, and neither one binds a private employer.
Arkansas answers two different questions with two different figures. Its state income tax deduction runs at 72.5 cents a mile for deductible expenses paid or incurred on or after January 1, 2026, set by Proclamation 2026-1 under Act 614 of 2025 and Arkansas Code Annotated §26-51-423(a)(2). What the state pays its own travelers is a separate rate, which the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration states as $0.52 a mile in its travel portal. Neither figure creates a duty for a private employer, so a private claim pays what the employer's written policy says, and most policies follow the federal rate of 72.5 cents through June 30, 2026 and 76 cents from July 1.
A mileage figure in Arkansas can come from the tax code or from the travel rules, and the two do not answer the same question. The tax figure tells a filer what can be deducted on an Arkansas return. The travel figure tells a state employee what a mile is worth on a claim.
Reading one as the other is the mistake to avoid. A deduction rate says nothing about what an employer pays, and a travel rate says nothing about what a return may deduct.
Act 614 of 2025 gives the Department of Finance and Administration authority to revise the optional standard mileage rates by proclamation, and it did so in Proclamation 2026-1, issued on January 7, 2026. The rates apply per mile to deductible expenses paid or incurred on or after January 1, 2026.
The proclamation's own recital says the state figures are consistent with the federal ones for business, moving, medical and charitable purposes. That is a statement about the January figures, and two of them moved later. The federal business rate rose to 76 cents on July 1, 2026, and the federal medical and moving rate rose to 23.5 cents on the same date.
The proclamation sets no end date, so it still names 20.5 cents for medical and moving driving. A state return that uses the optional rate is therefore using the Arkansas figure rather than the federal one for the second half of the year.
| Purpose | Arkansas optional rate for 2026 |
|---|---|
| Business | 72.5 cents per mile |
| Medical | 20.5 cents per mile |
| Moving | 20.5 cents per mile |
| Charitable | 14 cents per mile |
Arkansas Proclamation 2026-1, standard mileage rates for income tax purposes, expenses paid or incurred on or after January 1, 2026.
The travel rate is set by the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State rather than by the proclamation. The Department of Finance and Administration's travel portal, in its answer to what the current reimbursement rate is, states $0.52 a mile.
The travel regulations that frame the claim add the rest: a traveler claims map mileage between the destination and the official station, or the residence when leaving from it, whichever is less, and a supervisor approves the travel before it happens.
Neither instrument binds a private employer. Act 614 of 2025 changed a tax rule, and the travel rate binds state agencies, so a private claim is decided by the policy the employer wrote, which is usually the federal figure of 72.5 cents per mile through June 30, 2026 and 76 cents per mile from July 1.
The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration publishes these figures. State employees traveling on official business in a private vehicle, at the rate the Chief Fiscal Officer sets. The travel rules bind agencies, not a private employer.
The travel rate is a separate figure from the optional standard mileage rate the same department sets for income tax by proclamation, and the two are not interchangeable.
A private employer's policy is the figure that binds a private claim, and where it follows the federal rate the trip prices at 72.5 cents per mile through June 30, 2026 and 76 cents per mile from July 1.
| Applies to | Amount |
|---|---|
| Private vehicle on state business, rate stated in the travel portal | $0.52 per mile |
Source: Arkansas DFA travel portal: frequently asked questions.
The IRS moved the business standard mileage rate mid-year, so a 2026 trip prices by its date. This is the benchmark an employer's rate method usually follows.
| Period | Federal business rate | What it means for a claim here |
|---|---|---|
| January 1 – June 30, 2026 | 72.5 cents per mile | Arkansas's own proclamation named this rate for deductible expenses paid or incurred from January 1, 2026. |
| July 1 – December 31, 2026 | 76 cents per mile | The federal figure moved on July 1, 2026. The state figure a return uses comes from the Arkansas proclamation, so check the finance department's page before filing at the higher number. |
Both 2026 federal periods, and how each one reaches this state.
The IRS has not published a standard mileage rate for 2027. Until it does, two things decide what a trip pays: the year you drove it and the date within that year. A 2026 trip pays 72.5 cents per mile through June 30 and 76 cents per mile from July 1. Miles driven from January 1, 2027 will use whatever figure the IRS publishes next.
The next year's rate has arrived in December in each of the last nine years, between December 14 and December 31. An announcement is not always the last word. The IRS raised the 2026 figure on July 1, halfway through the year, so a 2027 claim may need two rate periods.
A state that publishes a rate for its own travelers follows its own calendar, so it can publish the next period before the IRS does. A private employer's rate changes when its own policy changes, or when the benchmark that policy follows moves. It does not change because the calendar year turns.
Proclamation 2026-1 in full, with Act 614 of 2025 and §26-51-423(a)(2) as its authority.
The travel rate the department states as current, and the claim form a traveler submits.
The rule behind the travel portal, including the regulations a claim is measured against.
The announcement that set the federal business rate for that period.
The announcement that set the federal business rate for that period.
Arkansas publishes two 2026 figures, the optional standard rate for the state income tax deduction at 72.5 cents a mile for expenses paid or incurred from January 1, 2026, and the travel rate for state employees at $0.52 a mile.
The January proclamation says it is consistent with the federal rates for business, medical, moving and charitable driving, and its business figure matches the federal figure for the first half of 2026. The federal business rate then rose to 76 cents on July 1, 2026 and the federal medical and moving rate to 23.5 cents, while the proclamation kept its own figures for the year.
Arkansas sets no private-employer duty, because Act 614 of 2025 changed a tax rule and the travel rate binds state agencies rather than employers.
The rate is what the Chief Fiscal Officer sets for state travel, and claims are measured against the travel regulations, including map mileage from the official station or the residence, whichever is less.
Only if the rate you are paid follows the federal figure: trips through June 30, 2026 price at 72.5 cents per mile and trips from July 1 at 76 cents per mile. A rate the employer sets on its own applies to the whole year, and a statutory duty is owed either way.
Explore official tax authority rate tables, compliance guides, and printable mileage log templates.