Oregon Mileage Reimbursement 2026: Two Tiers and One Condition

Oregon has used a two-tier schedule since January 1, 2012, and it is built on the same model the federal travel regulations use. The full rate is paid in the ordinary case: no state vehicle was available, or a personal vehicle was the most cost-effective way to make the trip, or a documented medical accommodation rules out the state car.

The reduced rate has a narrower trigger, and it is worth reading twice. It applies where a state vehicle was available and cost-effective, and the employee's manager nonetheless authorized the use of a personal vehicle. The agency has already decided the state car was cheaper; the manager's authorization moves the trip to the personal car without moving the cost.

Oregon's rates are not published in a press release. They sit in the Oregon Accounting Manual as statewide policy 40.10.00, owned by the Office of the State Controller, whose authority comes from the accounting statutes it cites. The version in force from October 1, 2026 replaced the one dated July 1, 2026, which is how the state republishes a rate when the federal figure changes.

The policy also carries the parts of the rule a rate table cannot: an appendix of worked examples for the two tiers, a second appendix of commuting examples, and the standard that an agency must apply its fleet policy before it decides which tier applies.

• Appendix A prints per diem and mileage rates, with the two tiers and the dates they cover.
• Appendix B works the two tiers through examples, which is how the policy answers a disputed claim.
• Appendix C does the same for personal commuting, the trips the rate does not cover.

A privately owned aircraft is paid at the federal aircraft rate per nautical mile, and the aircraft figure moved on the same date the automobile one did. The policy also requires the agency to follow its risk management rules before it authorizes the flight, which is a condition on the trip rather than on the rate.

Per diem follows the federal schedule as well, which keeps the whole allowance on one calendar: an agency that republishes mileage without the per diem would leave a traveler with a rate that moved and a meal allowance that did not.

The manual governs state agencies and the travelers they reimburse. Oregon sets no private-employer mileage rate, so a private claim follows the written policy, and a policy that follows the federal tax rate reads 72.5 cents per mile through June 30, 2026 and 76 cents per mile from July 1 — the same two figures the state pays on its full tier, though for a different reason.

• A private policy is not bound by Oregon's two-tier rule, which exists because the state is choosing between a state car and a private one.
• Record which tier applied if the claim is a state claim; the reduced figure is the one most often disputed.
• Keep the travel date, because the manual republished on October 1, 2026 without changing the July figures.

The Oregon Office of the State Controller publishes these figures. State agencies and the travelers they reimburse, under the statewide travel policy. The figures are state travel rates.

The full rate applies where no state vehicle was available, where the personal vehicle was most cost-effective, or where a documented medical accommodation requires it.

The reduced rate applies where a state vehicle was available and cost-effective and a manager still authorized the personal car.

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.