Medical mileage is one of the most commonly overlooked components of the medical expense deduction. At 21 cents per mile (2024 rate), 500 round-trip miles to medical appointments over the course of a year adds up to $105 — before you even count parking and tolls. The problem is that most people don’t have a log of those trips. The right mileage tracking app solves that automatically. Here’s what works best for medical mileage in 2025.
What the IRS Requires for Medical Mileage
To deduct medical mileage on Schedule A, the IRS requires a contemporaneous record — meaning a log kept as you go, not reconstructed from memory at tax time. A compliant mileage log must include:
- Date of each trip
- Starting point and destination
- Purpose of the trip (e.g., “appointment with Dr. Smith for knee follow-up”)
- Odometer reading at start and end, or total miles for each trip
A mileage tracking app handles most of this automatically using your phone’s GPS — you just need to classify the trip and add a brief purpose note.
Top Mileage Tracking Apps for Medical Trips
1. MileIQ — Best for Automatic Tracking
MileIQ runs quietly in the background and automatically detects and logs every drive using your phone’s GPS and motion sensors. After each trip, you swipe left (personal) or right (business/medical) to classify it. For medical trips, you can add a custom purpose note.
At year-end, MileIQ generates a detailed report with all your classified drives, total miles by category, and deduction value by rate — exactly what you need for Schedule A. The report can be exported as a PDF or spreadsheet for your tax records.
- Price: Free for up to 40 drives/month; $5.99/month or $59.99/year for unlimited
- Best for: Anyone who wants completely automatic tracking with minimal manual input
- Works for: Medical mileage, business mileage, and charitable mileage simultaneously
2. Stride — Best Free Option for Medical + Business Mileage
Stride is a completely free mileage and expense tracking app built for self-employed workers and gig workers. It tracks mileage automatically, lets you classify drives by type (including medical), and calculates your deduction in real time. You can also log non-mileage expenses like co-pays and prescriptions.
Stride generates a year-end tax summary that includes your total medical mileage, which you can add to your other medical expenses when filing. The app is ad-supported but fully functional at no cost.
- Price: Free
- Best for: Freelancers who want to track both medical and business mileage in one free app
- Note: Less polished than MileIQ but highly capable for the price
3. Everlance — Best for Detailed Documentation
Everlance is a mileage and expense tracking app with a particularly strong documentation feature — you can attach photos, notes, and receipts to each tracked drive. For medical mileage where you want to attach a photo of the appointment confirmation or parking receipt, this is extremely useful for building an audit-proof record.
- Price: Free for up to 30 trips/month; $8/month or $60/year for unlimited
- Best for: People with complex medical travel (multiple specialists, out-of-state trips) who want rich documentation
4. Google Sheets or Excel — Best Manual Option
If you prefer not to use an app, a simple spreadsheet works perfectly well. Create columns for Date, Starting Point, Destination, Purpose, Miles (Round Trip), Parking, Tolls, and Other Costs. Update it after each medical trip — it takes about 60 seconds per entry.
At year-end, sum your miles and multiply by the IRS medical mileage rate. Add the parking and toll totals. This is compliant, free, and as auditable as any app log.
What the App Can’t Do For You
Mileage apps track distance and dates automatically, but you still need to:
- Classify each trip correctly as “medical” (most apps default to unclassified)
- Add the purpose of each trip (e.g., “cardiologist follow-up” vs. just “doctor”)
- Separately log parking receipts, toll receipts, and other non-mileage travel costs
- Keep appointment records or other documentation showing the medical purpose of travel
How Much Could Medical Mileage Be Worth?
At 21 cents/mile (2024 rate), here’s what common medical travel patterns produce:
| Travel Pattern | Estimated Annual Miles | Mileage Deduction Value |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly doctor visits (10 mi round trip) | 120 miles | $25.20 |
| Weekly therapy sessions (8 mi round trip) | 416 miles | $87.36 |
| Specialist + regular appointments | 600 miles | $126.00 |
| Managing a chronic condition (frequent visits) | 1,500 miles | $315.00 |
| Cancer or serious illness treatment | 3,000+ miles | $630+ |
Add parking and tolls to these figures. For someone managing a serious illness or chronic condition, medical mileage alone can represent hundreds of dollars added to the medical expense deduction pool — helping clear or extend the 7.5% AGI threshold.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use the same mileage app for medical and business mileage?
Yes — MileIQ, Stride, and Everlance all support multiple mileage categories in the same app. Medical mileage and business mileage are tracked together but classified differently. They go to different places on your tax return: medical mileage to Schedule A, business mileage to Schedule C.
Do I need to track odometer readings if I use an app?
GPS-based apps calculate your miles by tracking the actual route driven — they don’t use odometer readings. Your year-end report will show trips with start/end points and GPS-calculated mileage, which is a completely IRS-acceptable method of substantiation.
What if I forget to open the app?
MileIQ and Stride both run in the background and detect drives automatically without requiring you to open the app. You only need to classify trips after the fact. You can classify drives retroactively for trips already recorded. If you miss some trips entirely, you can manually add them with the date, start, end, and purpose.
Bottom Line
Medical mileage is worth tracking even if your total medical expenses don’t seem like they’ll clear the 7.5% threshold — because you never know your final AGI until year-end, and every dollar helps. MileIQ offers the most seamless automatic tracking experience for a modest annual fee. Stride is a capable free alternative. Either way, start tracking now rather than trying to reconstruct medical trips at tax time.
See also: Medical Travel Deduction: Mileage, Tolls, Parking & Lodging | Free Medical Expense Log Template (IRS-Ready)
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