One question comes up constantly among self-employed people and freelancers: if I use the standard mileage rate for my vehicle, can I still deduct car washes separately? The IRS has a clear answer — and it’s not what most people want to hear. Here’s the full explanation.
The Direct Answer: No, You Cannot Deduct Car Washes With the Standard Mileage Rate
IRS Publication 463 (Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses) is unambiguous: when you use the standard mileage rate, it covers all the costs of operating your vehicle for business, including gas, oil, tires, repairs, and maintenance. Car washes are maintenance costs. They are included in the standard mileage rate.
You cannot separately deduct car wash expenses when you’re already using the standard mileage rate. The IRS considers it double-dipping — you’ve already received a tax benefit for car wash costs through the per-mile rate.
What the Standard Mileage Rate Is Designed to Cover
The IRS sets the standard mileage rate (70 cents per mile in 2025) to reflect the average cost of operating a vehicle in the United States. That average includes:
- Fuel (gasoline or electricity)
- Oil changes and routine maintenance
- Tires
- Repairs
- Car washes and cleaning
- Vehicle depreciation
By choosing the standard mileage rate, you’ve opted for a simplified method that bundles all of these costs into one per-mile figure. In exchange for that simplicity, you give up the ability to deduct individual operating costs.
What You CAN Still Deduct With the Standard Mileage Rate
Even when using the standard mileage rate, there are vehicle-related costs you can still deduct separately:
- Parking fees and tolls — These are explicitly listed in Publication 463 as separately deductible on top of the standard mileage rate
- Interest on a vehicle loan (for self-employed people, proportional to business use)
- Personal property taxes on the vehicle (proportional to business use)
But car washes? Not on this list. The IRS is clear that maintenance and cleaning are included in the standard rate.
The Alternative: The Actual Expense Method
If you want to deduct car wash costs separately, you need to use the actual expense method instead of the standard mileage rate. Under the actual expense method, you track and deduct your real vehicle costs — including gas, insurance, maintenance, depreciation, and yes, car washes — multiplied by your business-use percentage.
The trade-off: more recordkeeping and complexity in exchange for potentially higher deductions (especially if you drive a fuel-efficient car with low overall costs, or have unusually high maintenance costs).
Can You Switch Methods?
Here’s an important restriction: if you’ve used the actual expense method in any prior year for a given vehicle, you cannot switch to the standard mileage rate for that vehicle later. However, if you started with the standard mileage rate, you can switch to actual expenses in a later year — though certain depreciation rules apply.
In your first year of business use for a new vehicle, you have the free choice of either method. Choose carefully — and if you drive a lot of miles, the standard rate is usually more generous despite not allowing separate car wash deductions.
The Math: Does Switching Methods for Car Washes Make Sense?
Let’s be direct: the car wash deduction alone is almost never a good reason to switch from standard mileage to actual expenses. If you drive 15,000 business miles at 70 cents/mile, that’s a $10,500 deduction. Switching to actual expenses to capture $200–$500 in car wash costs would likely cost you far more in lost mileage deductions unless your actual vehicle costs are genuinely very high.
Choose your vehicle expense method based on the full picture of all your vehicle costs — not just car washes.
The Bottom Line
Car washes cannot be deducted separately when you use the standard mileage rate — they’re already included. If you want a separate car wash deduction, you need to use the actual expense method. For most high-mileage drivers, the standard rate provides a larger overall deduction even without the car wash benefit. Run the numbers for your specific situation before choosing.
Related: Are Car Washes Included in the Standard Mileage Rate? | Are Car Washes Tax Deductible? | Standard Mileage Rate vs. Actual Expenses: Which Saves More?
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