Virginia Mileage Reimbursement 2026: 76 Cents, Then 13

The Code of Virginia gives the rule and not the number. Section 2.2-2823 requires reimbursement at the rate specified in the current general appropriation act, so the figure follows the budget rather than a section of the code.

The same section settles what mileage covers: every cost incident to maintaining and operating the car, except storage and parking, turnpike, tunnel, ferry and bridge tolls, which are claimed as separate expenses.

Virginia pays the federal rate for the first 15,000 miles of a fiscal year, then 13 cents a mile above it, unless no state vehicle was available, in which case the federal rate continues. The federal figure is 72.5 cents per mile through June 30, 2026 and 76 cents per mile from July 1.

• Count the miles by fiscal year, because the line resets on July 1.
• Round the distance to the nearest whole mile, since the state's expense system takes no fraction.
• Claim tolls and parking separately rather than folding them into the mileage figure.

Agency rules apply to the choice of vehicle, not only to the rate. The comparison is recorded before the trip, and the reimbursement cannot exceed the cheaper option.

Section 2.2-2823 covers a person traveling on state business, so it does not set what a private employer owes. A private claim follows the employer's written policy, and the figure most policies take is the federal business rate, which is 72.5 cents per mile through June 30, 2026 and 76 cents per mile from July 1.

• Track the fiscal-year total, because the fifteen-thousandth mile changes what the rest of the year pays.
• Keep the cost comparison for a drive over 200 miles, since the claim can be cut to the air fare without one.
• Record tolls and parking outside the mileage figure, which already covers the cost of running the car.

The Virginia Department of Accounts publishes these figures. It covers state employees traveling on official business, at the rate the general appropriation act sets. A private employer owes nothing under that act.

The 15,000-mile line resets at the start of each fiscal year, on July 1.

Miles driven for the employee's convenience pay the GSA privately owned vehicle rate, which is lower than the federal rate and is published for the date of travel.

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.