Updated October 19, 2026. Quick answer: Part II of Form 2106 covers vehicle expenses, lines 11 to 38. For 2025 the instructions print the standard mileage rate as 70 cents (0.70) per mile for business use. The form offers the standard mileage rate in Section B and actual expenses in Section C, and the instructions say to fill in only the sections that apply to the method chosen.
Quick reference
| Item | As the IRS form or instructions state it |
|---|---|
| Standard mileage rate, 2025 | “The 2025 per mile rate for business use of your vehicle is 70 cents (0.70).” |
| Lines in Part II | Lines 11 through 38, in Sections A to D |
| Standard rate unavailable for | “You may not use the standard mileage rate to compute the deductible expenses of five or more vehicles you own or lease simultaneously” |
| Lease inclusion amount trigger | “If you leased a vehicle for a term of 30 days or more, you may have to reduce your deduction for vehicle lease payments by an amount called the inclusion amount.” |
| Section 179 limit for SUVs | “the portion of the vehicle’s cost taken into account in figuring your section 179 deduction is limited to $31,300.” |
| Passenger car limit with special depreciation, 1st year | “is $20,200 for the 1st tax year, $19,600 for the 2nd tax year, $11,800 for the 3rd tax year, and $7,060 for each succeeding year.” |
| Passenger car limit without it, 1st year | “is $12,200 for the 1st tax year, $19,600 for the 2nd” |
Standard mileage rate or actual expenses
The instructions set out the choice at the start of Part II: “You can use the standard mileage rate for 2025 only if:” The two conditions are “You owned the vehicle and used the standard mileage rate for the first year you placed the vehicle in service, or” and “You leased the vehicle and are using the standard mileage rate for the entire lease period”.
A leased vehicle that has used the standard rate stays on it: “You can’t use actual expenses for a leased vehicle if you previously used the standard mileage rate for that vehicle.” When both methods are open, the instructions say “you should figure your expenses both ways to find the method most beneficial to you.”
Section B is a single line, line 22. The form tells the filer to multiply line 13, the business miles, by the rate and to “Enter the result here and on line 1”. The instructions limit the vehicle types: “You may be able to use the standard mileage rate instead of actual expenses to figure the deductible costs of operating a passenger vehicle, including a van, an SUV, a pickup, or a panel truck.”
Section A: the general information lines 11 to 21
Section A is required for any filer claiming vehicle expenses. It asks for the date placed in service, the miles driven, the business miles and the commuting miles. On line 12 the instructions say “Enter the total number of miles you drove each vehicle during 2025.” On line 13, “Don’t include commuting miles on this line; commuting miles aren’t considered business miles.”
Line 14 is a percentage: “Divide line 13 by line 12 to figure your business use percentage.” Commuting is defined this way: “Generally, commuting is travel between your home and a work location.” A temporary location is covered by “Generally, a temporary work location is one where your employment is expected to last 1 year or less.”
Lines 18 through 21 are questions. They ask whether the vehicle was available for personal use during off-duty hours, whether the filer or a spouse has another vehicle for personal use, and “Do you have evidence to support your deduction?” For a second vehicle, “If you used two vehicles for business during the year, use a separate column in Sections A, C, and D for each vehicle.”
Section C: actual expenses and lease costs
Section C runs from line 23 to line 29. On line 23 the instructions say “Enter your total annual expenses for gasoline, oil, repairs, insurance, tires, license plates, and similar items.” Line 24a is for rentals, and line 24b is the lease inclusion amount.
The inclusion amount applies only above a vehicle value. The instructions print a table for passenger automobiles, and the row for a lease that began in 2025 lists $62,000 as the fair market value on the first day of the lease that the vehicle must have exceeded. The instructions send the filer to Publication 463 for the calculation: “See Pub. 463 to figure the inclusion amount.”
Line 25 concerns an employer-provided vehicle: “If less than 100% of the annual lease value was included in Form W-2, box 1, skip line 25.” Line 27 multiplies line 26 by the percentage on line 14, and line 29 adds lines 27 and 28 and carries the total to line 1.
Section D: depreciation and the dollar limits
Section D, lines 30 to 38, applies only if the filer owned the vehicle and completed Section C. The instructions describe depreciation as “an amount you can deduct to recover the cost or other basis of your vehicle over a certain number of years.”
Several limits are printed. For section 179, “the aggregate cost of any section 179 property that a taxpayer elects to treat as an expense cannot exceed $2,500,000.” For a filer with other section 179 property or large section 179 purchases, “If you are claiming a section 179 deduction on other property, or you placed more than $4,000,000 of section 179 property in service during the year, use Form 4562 to figure your section 179 deduction.”
The yearly depreciation caps for passenger automobiles placed in service in 2025 are listed in two tables. The first applies where additional first-year depreciation applies, and the second where it does not, which is the $12,200 first-year figure in the table above. The instructions add “For 2025, your total section 179 deduction, special depreciation allowance, and regular depreciation deduction can’t be more than $20,200 for passenger automobiles, multiplied by your business use percentage on line 14.”
On the method chosen at line 33, the instructions say “You must use column (c) if the business use percentage on line 14 is 50% or less.” and “The method for these vehicles is the straight line method over 5 years.”
The special allowance rate depends on acquisition date: “For certain qualified property acquired after January 19, 2025, the special depreciation allowance is 100%.” See the Form 4562 page for the form that figures depreciation on other property.
Where this comes from
The editions read for this page are Form 2106 (2025) and the Instructions for Form 2106 (2025), dated Nov 20, 2025, which are the revisions irs.gov served when they were read on 2026-10-19. Check the revision printed on the form you file, because a later revision can change the lines and the amounts. This page describes Form 2106 (2025), Employee Business Expenses; Instructions for Form 2106 (2025), as served on irs.gov on October 19, 2026. The IRS can revise a form after we read it, and the form you file and its own instructions control. Current and earlier revisions are listed on the IRS page Forms, Instructions and Publications. General information, not tax or legal advice.
Common mistakes
- Treating the standard mileage rate as a free choice every year. The instructions say a leased vehicle on the standard rate “You can’t use actual expenses for a leased vehicle if you previously used the standard mileage rate for that vehicle.”
- Counting commuting miles as business miles. The instructions say “commuting miles aren’t considered business miles.”
- Assuming depreciation is deductible without limit. The instructions say “You can’t recover the amount by which your depreciation deduction exceeds the depreciation limits for the year placed in service until after the end of the recovery period for your vehicle.”
- Applying the standard rate to a fleet. The instructions say “You may not use the standard mileage rate to compute the deductible expenses of five or more vehicles you own or lease simultaneously”
Related: Form 2106 employee business expenses, IRS Publication 463, Form 4562, Form 4562 Part V listed property, IRS Publication 946, and Schedule C.
Sources
- Form 2106 (2025), Employee Business Expenses: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f2106.pdf
- Instructions for Form 2106 (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i2106.pdf
Read from the IRS pages linked above on October 19, 2026. General information, not tax or legal advice. The IRS form and the instructions for your own form control, and your own facts decide the outcome.