Colorado pays its own travelers 90% of the federal rate by statute. That is 65 and 68 cents a mile in 2026, or 69 and 72 with four-wheel drive.
Colorado Revised Statutes 24-9-104 does not set a flat mileage rate. It sets a share of the federal one. The state reimburses a state officer or employee 90% of the prevailing IRS rate for each mile actually and necessarily traveled on official state business, and 95% when the agency authorizes a four-wheel-drive vehicle for road, terrain or adverse weather. The Colorado Office of the State Controller publishes the result. Those figures are 65 cents a mile through June 30, 2026 and 68 cents from July 1, or 69 and 72 cents with four-wheel drive. A private employer is outside that statute, and Colorado sets no rate for private employment, so the figure in a private claim comes from the employer's written policy.
Most state travel rules name an amount and revise it. Colorado names a share of the federal amount. Two-wheel drive gets 90% of the prevailing IRS rate, a four-wheel-drive vehicle the agency has authorized for road, terrain or adverse weather gets 95%, and a privately owned aircraft gets 40 cents a nautical mile.
The percentage explains two things. Colorado's figure never equals the IRS rate, and it moves on the same day the federal rate does. The controller rounds each percentage to whole cents, so 90% of 72.5 is published as 65 and 90% of 76 as 68.
The statute reaches gas, diesel, hybrid and fully electric vehicles alike; nothing in the percentage depends on what powers the car.
The 2026 federal rate has two halves, so Colorado has two figures for each vehicle type. A two-wheel-drive trip pays 65 cents a mile and then 68. An authorized four-wheel-drive trip pays 69 cents and then 72.
The federal business rate, the 90% share and the 95% share.
| Question | What Colorado's rule answers |
|---|---|
| Who is covered | State officers and employees on official state business |
| Which miles count | Miles actually and necessarily traveled for the state |
| Four-wheel drive | 95% of the IRS rate, where the agency authorized the vehicle for road, terrain or weather |
| Aircraft | 40 cents per nautical mile for a privately owned aircraft |
| Where the percentage comes from | The prevailing IRS business standard mileage rate |
| Private employment | No state figure; the employer's written policy decides |
C.R.S. 24-9-104 as the Office of the State Controller applies it.
The rate statute names state officers and employees, so it does not tell a private employer what to pay. What a private claim pays comes from the employer's written policy, and the figure most policies adopt is the federal business rate. That rate is 72.5 cents per mile through June 30, 2026 and 76 cents per mile from July 1.
Colorado's 90% figure shows what the state decided a business mile is worth for its own travelers. Treat it as a benchmark, not a legal minimum, because the statute does not bind anyone else.
The Colorado Office of the State Controller publishes these figures. State officers and employees traveling on official state business, including an authorized four-wheel-drive vehicle. It does not set what a private employer owes.
Because the statute sets percentages, the controller's figures change when the federal rate does, not on a review date of its own. Two-wheel drive is 90% of the prevailing IRS rate and an authorized four-wheel-drive vehicle is 95%, which is why the four-wheel-drive figure is four cents higher in each half of the year.
A private employer owes nothing under this schedule. The figure it uses comes from its own policy, usually the federal business rate the state's percentages are calculated from.
| Applies to | Amount |
|---|---|
| Two-wheel drive, Jan 1 – Jun 30, 2026 | 65 cents per mile |
| Two-wheel drive, from Jul 1, 2026 | 68 cents per mile |
| Four-wheel drive when authorized, Jan 1 – Jun 30, 2026 | 69 cents per mile |
| Four-wheel drive when authorized, from Jul 1, 2026 | 72 cents per mile |
| Privately owned aircraft, per nautical mile | 40 cents |
Source: Colorado Office of the State Controller: mileage reimbursement rate.
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 | Colorado pays 90% of this rate, which is where its 65 cents for the first half of 2026 comes from. |
| July 1 – December 31, 2026 | 76 cents per mile | The federal increase carried Colorado's two-wheel-drive figure to 68 cents, and its authorized four-wheel-drive figure to 72. |
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.
The statute's 90% and 95% shares, the 40-cent aircraft figure, and both 2026 rate periods.
The rule the controller applies when a state traveler claims mileage.
The announcement that set the federal business rate for that period.
The announcement that set the federal business rate for that period.
No Colorado statute sets a private-employer mileage rate. C.R.S. 24-9-104 covers state officers and employees, so a private claim pays whatever the employer's written policy says, usually the federal business rate.
Because the statute sets 90% of the prevailing IRS rate rather than the rate itself. That is 65 cents through June 30, 2026 and 68 cents from July 1; an authorized four-wheel-drive vehicle gets 95%, or 69 and 72 cents.
Colorado pays 95% of the prevailing IRS rate when the agency authorizes the vehicle for road, terrain or adverse weather. In 2026 that is 69 cents a mile through June 30 and 72 cents from July 1.
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.