Which Travel Costs Can a Reservist Deduct: Airfare, Rental Cars, Parking, Tolls and Taxis?
Once a trip qualifies, what can you actually put on the form? This guide goes through airfare, rental cars, driving, parking, tolls, taxis and the rest, and what changes when someone else paid.
The cap that sits over everything
Publication 463 says the amount you can deduct as an adjustment to gross income is limited to the regular federal per diem rate (for lodging and meals and incidental expenses) and the standard mileage rate (for car expenses), plus any parking fees, ferry fees and tolls. The law uses the same idea: expenses at a rate not above the travel rates for federal employees, including per diem.
That sentence names per diem, the mileage rate, parking, ferry fees and tolls. It does not name airfare or rental cars, and the lines we reviewed do not say how the cap treats them. The IRS does list them as travel expenses, as shown next. If a large airfare or rental bill is part of your claim, confirm how the cap applies.
What the IRS lists as deductible travel costs
Publication 463 lists, among deductible travel costs, travel by airplane, train, bus or car between your home and your business destination; sending baggage and sample or display material between your regular and temporary work locations; lodging and non-entertainment meals if the trip is overnight or long enough that you need to stop for sleep or rest; dry cleaning and laundry; business calls while on the trip; and tips you pay for any expenses in that list.
It also lists fares for taxis, commuter buses and airport limousines that take you between the airport or station and your hotel, and between the hotel and your work location or other business meeting place.
On Form 2106, travel expense while away from home overnight, including lodging, airfare and car rental, goes on line 3. Parking fees, tolls and transportation, including trains and buses, that did not involve overnight travel or commuting go on line 2. Vehicle expense goes on line 1, taken from line 22 or line 29 of the form.
One small rule: if you were given a free ticket, or you ride free through a frequent traveler or similar program, your cost is zero.
Rental cars
Publication 463 says that if you rent a car while away from home on business, you can deduct only the business-use portion of the expenses. If you also used the rental for a side trip, we suggest keeping the agreement and noting which miles were for duty.
Driving your own car
Publication 463’s general table for business travel lists actual expenses or the standard mileage rate for a car. The reservist adjustment is narrower: as the cap above says, the amount is limited to the standard mileage rate for car expenses, plus parking, ferry fees and tolls. The IRS texts we reviewed do not say that a reservist can deduct actual car expenses for this adjustment, so this guide prices driving at the standard mileage rate and nothing else. Whether another method could apply to you is a question for the IRS publications or a tax professional.
If you use the standard mileage rate for a year, you cannot deduct your actual car expenses for that year. The rate already covers depreciation, lease payments, maintenance and repairs, gasoline, oil, insurance and registration fees, so you do not add those on top. For a car you own, Publication 463 says you must choose the standard mileage rate in the first year the car is available for use in your business.
The IRS rate for 2026 changed mid-year: 72.5 cents per mile for expenses before July 1, 2026, and 76 cents per mile for expenses paid or incurred on or after July 1, 2026. For reference, the 2025 rate was 70 cents and the 2024 rate was 67 cents.
Here is a drive of 440 miles in total with $18.50 of tolls and $32.00 of parking (all invented, for illustration only), calculated by a script at both 2026 rates:
| Period | Rate | Mileage | Plus tolls and parking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before July 1, 2026 | 72.5 cents | $319.00 | $369.50 |
| July 1, 2026 on | 76.0 cents | $334.40 | $384.90 |
Notice that tolls and parking sit outside the mileage rate. The IRS says that in addition to the standard mileage rate you can deduct business-related parking fees and tolls, but that parking fees you pay to park your car at your place of work are nondeductible commuting expenses.
We have not worked out actual car expenses here: it needs receipts and the business share of the car’s use, the reservist cap above points to the standard rate, and the figures would be yours, not ours.
What is not deductible
Commuting. The IRS says you cannot deduct commuting expenses no matter how far your home is from your regular place of work.
A companion’s costs. Publication 463 gives an example in which a double room costs $199 a day and a single room $149; you can deduct the whole cost of driving but only $149 a day for the room. It also says that if a spouse, dependent or other individual goes with you on a business trip, you generally cannot deduct their travel expenses.
Lavish or extravagant meals are not deductible either, and as the per diem guide explains, meals have their own limits.
When someone else paid
You deduct only the unreimbursed part. Form 2106 has a line for reimbursements received from your employer and a line that subtracts them, entering zero if the result is zero or less. If the reimbursement is more than your expenses, the excess is reported as income.
For example, if you paid $420.00 for airfare and were reimbursed $300.00, only the $120.00 difference is a candidate for the deduction. The IRS publications we reviewed do not say what your orders or unit typically pay, so check your own paperwork.
Publication 463 covers reimbursements in a separate chapter on accountable and nonaccountable plans. Its 50 percent limit is a limit on meals: in the standard meal allowance paragraph it says that if you are reimbursed under an accountable plan and deduct more than the reimbursement, you can deduct only 50 percent of the excess amount. That sentence is about meal costs. It does not reduce the airfare, rental, parking or toll example above, where the full unreimbursed difference is the figure to carry forward. Meals are covered in the lodging and meals guide.
Keep the paper
Airfare confirmations, rental agreements, toll statements, parking receipts and baggage receipts are the kinds of paper we suggest keeping. The records guide covers what the IRS expects and for how long.
Related guides
- Mileage rates by year: the standard rate for each tax year, to price your own driving.
- Lodging and meals: the per diem side of the cap, which this page only touches.
- Which trips count: decide whether a trip qualifies before you total its costs.
- Records to keep: what to hold on to for tickets, tolls and receipts.
- Per diem rates: the federal rate tables behind the lodging and meals cap.
- A drilling year, worked through: these costs combined in one full-year example.
Sources
- IRS Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses
- IRS Publication 3, Armed Forces' Tax Guide
- IRS Instructions for Form 2106, Employee Business Expenses
- IRS Form 2106, Employee Business Expenses
- 26 U.S.C. 62, Adjusted gross income defined (U.S. Code, govinfo.gov)
- IRS Notice 2026-10, 2026 standard mileage rates
- Internal Revenue Bulletin 2026-29 (includes Announcement 2026-11, revised 2026 mileage rates)
- IRS Notice 2025-5, 2025 standard mileage rates
- IRS Notice 2024-8, 2024 standard mileage rates