Mistake #1: Using Last Year's Rate
The mileage deduction rate changes, sometimes mid-year. For 2026, it's $0.725 per mile for trips January through June, and $0.76 per mile for trips July through December — applied by the actual date of the trip, not the date you log it. Using the wrong rate on even a few hundred miles adds up fast.
Mistake #2: Counting the Commute
Driving from home to your first pickup or delivery of the day is a personal commute, not a deductible business mile — no exceptions. The deduction starts once you're actively working, not the moment you leave your driveway.
Mistake #3: Reconstructing Miles at Tax Time
The IRS requires a contemporaneous mileage log — recorded at or near the time of the trip. A log built from memory or Google Maps history in April is exactly the kind of thing that gets thrown out under audit.
Mistake #4: Double-Counting on Multi-App Days
If you're logged into two delivery apps at once, you can only deduct each mile once, even if both apps 'credit' you for it. Log the actual mileage driven, not the mileage each app separately claims.
The Fix: Auto-Log Every Trip
SUNY's GPS auto-log timestamps every trip as it happens and applies the correct rate for the actual trip date automatically — the single fix for all four mistakes above at once.