Mileage Tracking
Introduction
Real estate agents drive constantly. Showings, client meetings, open houses, property inspections, business errands — the miles add up fast. Every one of those business miles is a tax deduction, and most agents are not capturing all of them. This lesson fixes that.
Every Mile Is Money
The IRS allows self-employed professionals to deduct every business mile driven using the standard mileage rate. For 2026, that rate is 72.5 cents per mile. An agent driving 15,000 business miles in a year is looking at more than $10,000 in deductions. An agent driving 20,000 miles is looking at over $14,000.
Those deductions are only available if you have records to back them up.
The agents who track every mile walk into tax season with clean, documented logs and deductions they can prove. The agents who do not are leaving money on the table every single year — money they cannot go back and recover.
A mileage app running on your phone captures everything automatically. The setup takes less than ten minutes.
What Counts as a Business Mile
Not all driving qualifies. Here is what does for a real estate agent:
— Driving to and from property showings
— Driving to client meetings
— Driving to and from open houses you are hosting or attending
— Driving to pick up supplies, drop off documents, or handle business errands
— Driving to property inspections or walkthroughs
— Driving to MLS meetings, board meetings, or continuing education
Here is what does not qualify:
— Commuting from your home to a fixed office location
— Personal errands combined with a business stop unless the primary purpose is business
When in doubt, log the trip and let your tax professional make the call. A logged trip you cannot deduct costs you nothing. An unlogged business trip costs you a real deduction.
What the IRS Requires
The IRS does not accept estimates or reconstructed logs created at tax time. They require contemporaneous records — meaning you log each trip at the time it happens or immediately after.
Each trip record must include:
— The date of the trip
— The starting point
— The destination
— The business purpose
A mileage app handles all four automatically using GPS. You classify the trip as business or personal, and the record is complete.
The Recommended Tool: Stride
App Store (iOS): Stride: Mileage & Tax Tracker
Google Play (Android): Search Stride Mileage Tax Tracker on Google Pla
Stride is completely free — no paid tier, no trial period, no credit card required. It is built for self-employed professionals and is used by millions of independent workers, including real estate agents.
What Stride Does
— Automatically tracks mileage using GPS in the background
— Generates IRS-ready mileage logs formatted for tax filing
— Allows manual trip entry if you forget to track a drive
— Tracks expenses and income alongside mileage
— Available on iOS and Android
— Syncs across devices
Getting Started with Stride
— Download the Stride app from the App Store or Google Play
— Create your free account
— Add your vehicle
— Enable background location so the app can track automatically
— Set a reminder so you never forget to log a trip
— At the end of each week, review your trips and classify each one as business or personal
— At tax time, request your IRS-ready report directly from the app
One thing to know: Stride requires you to manually start and stop trip tracking or enable automatic detection. Set it up correctly from the beginning and it runs in the background without interrupting your day.
Also Worth Knowing: Everlance
Website: everlance.com
YouTube: youtube.com/everlance
Everlance is a mileage and expense tracking platform used by over four million drivers, including real estate agents. It offers a free tier and paid plans with expanded features. Check current pricing at everlance.com before subscribing.
What Everlance Does
— Automatic GPS trip detection and logging
— Classify trips as business or personal with a single swipe
— Receipt upload and expense categorization
— Bank and credit card sync on paid plans
— IRS-compliant mileage reports exportable as PDF or CSV
— Available on iOS and Android
Free vs. Paid
The free plan includes a limited number of automatically detected trips per month and unlimited manual tracking. Paid plans unlock unlimited automatic trip detection and additional expense features. Verify current plan details and pricing at everlance.com.
Everlance is a strong choice if you want mileage and expense tracking in one app. If you are already using RealtyZam® for expenses and just need a clean, reliable mileage log, Stride's free option covers everything you need.
How This Fits Your System
This lesson and the Real Estate Business Accounting lesson are designed to work together:
— Stride or Everlance handles every business mile automatically
— RealtyZam® handles commission income, expenses, receipts, and tax reporting
Together they cover every financial record a self-employed real estate agent needs to maintain. Neither one is complicated. Both can be set up in an afternoon.
Every mile you drive for your business is worth real money. Now you have the system to capture all of it.
Good job! You just set up one of the simplest and most valuable financial habits in your business — and it runs in the background so you never have to think about it again.
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Mileage Tracking | Version 1.0 |July 2, 2026
Cypher