Georgia Mileage Reimbursement 2026: GSA Rates From Aug 1

Georgia does not publish a rate of its own and revise it each year. OCGA § 50-19-7 requires the state to use the federal GSA rates for mileage when an employee drives a privately owned vehicle on official travel, and the State Accounting Office writes the resulting table into its mileage reimbursement rate policy.

The policy also says when a new figure starts. Rates change only when the office revises the policy, not when the federal schedule changes. Georgia's automobile figure moved to 76 cents on August 1, 2026, a month after the federal figure changed, because that is when the revision took effect.

The policy prices vehicles separately and adds a tier the federal schedule does not have, for a personal vehicle used when an agency-owned vehicle was available. That trip pays the second-tier figure rather than the automobile rate.

A Georgia claim does not add fuel or servicing on top of the per-mile figure. The policy's standard rate covers gas, oil, repairs and maintenance, tires, insurance, registration, licenses and the depreciation attributable to the business miles.

So a receipt for a tank of fuel, an oil change or a new set of tires does not belong beside a mileage claim. A separate claim for those costs on top of the mileage figure is the mistake the policy's wording rules out.

OCGA § 50-19-7 is about state officials and employees, and nothing in it reaches a private payroll. A private claim pays what the employer's written policy says, and the figure most policies use 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.

The state's second tier answers a different question. Georgia decided that a personal vehicle used when an agency car was available is worth 23.5 cents rather than 76, so a policy can price the same mile differently depending on why the car was used.

• Ask which vehicle class the policy prices, and keep the answer with the claim.
• Log the trip's date, because a rate tied to the federal schedule can change in the middle of a year.
• Keep fuel and servicing receipts out of a mileage claim, since the per-mile figure already covers them.

The Georgia State Accounting Office publishes these figures. State officials and employees traveling on official business in a personal vehicle, with separate figures for a motorcycle, an aircraft and a trip where an agency vehicle was available. It does not bind a private employer.

The policy changes only when the accounting office revises it, so a federal announcement starts a state revision rather than taking effect on its own. That is why the second 2026 figure is dated August 1.

The vehicle classes and the second tier all sit inside a policy that binds state travel. A private employer's claim follows its own policy, usually the federal business rate of 72.5 cents per mile through June 30, 2026 and 76 cents per mile from July 1.

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.

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.