Each trip looks up the rate in force on its date — including mid-year changes — with totals by vehicle, month and quarter. Free to download.

Log each trip once. The rate for that date is looked up automatically — including mid-year rate changes — with totals by vehicle, month and quarter.

Who it’s for

Self-employed people, gig workers and small teams who claim a standard mileage deduction and need a contemporaneous log that still works when rates change mid-year.

What it does

• Editable Rate Schedule in cents per mile (Business, Medical, Charitable) with an effective-from date on each row
• Each trip looks up the latest rate on or before its date, so a July rate change applies from that day without a second file
• Purpose dropdown: Business, Medical, Charitable or Personal; Commute flag zeros the deduction while still counting miles
• Round-trip doubles one-way miles
• Odometer start/end or typed miles; a check flags disagreements, missing fields and unknown vehicles
• Up to 12 vehicles with per-vehicle miles and deduction
• Summary: YTD deduction, by purpose, by month, by quarter, plus a Jan–Jun vs Jul–Dec business split so you can see the mid-year change
• Up to 2,000 trips; example rates from the public IRS table for illustration (confirm before filing)

What you get

1. Mileage-Deduction-Log.xlsx: the working spreadsheet (6 tabs, with fictional example trips)
2. Mileage-Deduction-Log-Guide.pdf: a short guide covering setup, the rate schedule, logging trips and every status check

Good to know

• Free instant download, no sign-up.
• Not tax advice. Confirm rates and deductibility rules before you file.
• No GPS tracking, no automatic imports, no reminders.
• License: free for personal or business use; don't resell or re-host. Sharing a link to the Tidewick page is fine.

Compatibility

Tested in LibreOffice Calc (free for Windows, Mac and Linux). Every calculated cell was recalculated there and checked against an independent model across 27 test workbooks, including mid-year rate boundaries, messy data and a full 2,000-trip file.

Other apps: not yet tested. It's built as a standard .xlsx with no macros and uses only long-standing functions (IF, INDEX, MATCH, COUNTIF/COUNTIFS, SUMIFS, SUMPRODUCT, ROUND, EOMONTH, DATE, TODAY and similar). That's a good sign, but it isn't a test, so we don't claim it works in Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers yet.

Known limits. 2,000 trips, 12 vehicles, 20 rate rows. Rates are cents per mile. No GPS, no imports, no reminders. Not tax advice — confirm rates before filing. Phones and tablets haven't been tested.

How to use it

1. Download the .xlsx and the PDF guide from the product page on the Tidewick site.
2. Open the .xlsx in LibreOffice Calc (free), where it has been tested. Other apps haven't been tested yet.
3. On Settings, clear the as-of date to use today (or keep a fixed date for a closed year).
4. On Rate Schedule, keep or edit the example cents-per-mile rows. Add a row when rates change; keep them oldest first.
5. On Vehicles, replace the example nicknames with yours.
6. Delete the yellow example rows on the Trip Log, then add your trips. Check Summary and any amber Check flags.

Questions

Do I need Excel?

No. It has been tested in LibreOffice Calc, which is free. It's a standard .xlsx with no macros, but it hasn't been tested in Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers yet.

How do mid-year rate changes work?

Add a Rate Schedule row with the new effective date and the new cents/mile. Each trip uses the latest row on or before its own date.

Odometer or typed miles?

Either. If you fill both and they disagree by more than 0.05 miles, a check appears.

What does Commute do?

It sets the deduction to zero for that trip while still counting the miles (for example home↔office).

Is this tax advice?

No. Example rates are illustrations from the public IRS table. Confirm rates and rules before filing.

How many trips?

Up to 2,000 trips, 12 vehicles and 20 rate rows per file.

Does it cost anything?

No. It's a free download with no sign-up.