Mileage allowances 2026: official scale, calculation and taxation

Updated April 2026 — The scale of mileage allowances (IK) is published each year by ministerial decree and constitutes the legal reference for reimbursing employees and managers who use their personal vehicle for professional purposes. In 2026, several points deserve particular attention: the revaluation of the car scale, the extension of the 20% increase to plug-in hybrid vehicles, and the new documentary requirements expected in the event of an Urssaf inspection.

This guide presents the complete scale, the calculation formulas, the conditions of tax deductibility and the practical obligations for the employer.

The mileage allowance is the mechanism allowing an employer to reimburse, free of social security contributions and income tax, the costs incurred by an employee or manager to use their personal vehicle in the context of professional activity.

Its tax basis is article 83 2° of the General Tax Code (CGI), which authorizes the deduction of actual professional expenses — including mileage expenses — instead of the 10% standard deduction. On the social side, reimbursements within the limit of the official scale are exempt from Urssaf contributions in accordance with the BOFiP RSA - BASE - 20-50 and the provisions of the BOSS (Official Social Security Bulletin).

The scale is set annually by order of the minister responsible for the budget, published in the Official Journal. For 2026, the order was published in March 2026 and applies retroactively to income for the entire year.

The car scale distinguishes three kilometer brackets and five fiscal power levels (CV):

d = distance in kilometers traveled during the year professionally.

Example of calculation — 5 HP car, 8,000 professional km:

Compensation = (8,000 × 0.357) + 1,395 = 2,856 + 1,395 = €4,251

This amount is exempt from social contributions and non-taxable for the employee, within the limit of the scale.

Fiscal power ceiling

For vehicles whose power exceeds 7 HP, the scale is capped at the 7 HP bracket. A 12 HP vehicle is therefore compensated on the basis of the 7 HP scale. There is no increase beyond this threshold.

Since 2022 and renewed in 2026, owners of electric vehicles benefit from a 20% increase on the amounts resulting from the standard scale, to take into account the absence of fuel costs but the higher cost of purchase and the depreciation of the battery.

In 2026, this increase is extended to rechargeable hybrid vehicles when the professional distance is carried out in electric mode (which involves retaining charging data).

Example — 5 HP electric car, 8,000 professional km:

Basic scale: €4,251 20% increase: + €850 Total IK: €5,101

For IK to be exempt from social charges (Urssaf) and tax deductible, several cumulative conditions must be met:

1. Use of a personal vehicle

The vehicle must not be made available by the company. If a company vehicle is available, IK cannot be paid for this same vehicle. In the case of a mixed fleet (service vehicle for certain trips, personal vehicle for others), precise tracking per trip is essential.

2. Travel of a professional nature

Only journeys made in the direct interest of the company qualify for IK: customer visits, construction sites, supplier meetings, inter-site travel. The home-work journey is not a professional journey within the meaning of the scale (with an exception: increased deduction for long journeys within the limit of 80 km one way).

3. Required supporting documents

Any control Urssaf or DGFIP may require the production of:

• a travel record (date, place of departure, destination, purpose, mileage);
• the registration certificate of the vehicle (to verify the tax power);
• any document attesting to the professional nature of the trip (meeting minutes, purchase order, customer invitation).

Hayot Expertise Advice: the practice of the "monthly package without details" is systematically corrected during inspections. A monthly table with one line per move, even a simple one, provides solid protection. We recommend setting up a monitoring tool (structured Excel, expense report software) from the first employee concerned.

The fuel card only covers the cost of fuel, while the IK pays for all usage costs (depreciation, maintenance, insurance, fuel). For an employee who travels more than 10,000 professional km per year, the IK is generally more advantageous. Below this, the fuel card may be simpler to manage.

The employer who pays IK has several obligations:

1. Define a reimbursement policy: the ideal is to formalize it in an internal memo or in the internal regulations, specifying the scale used, the reimbursement conditions and the processing time for expense reports. 2. 6. A reimbursement calculated on an incorrect power is a risk of recovery.
2. Process correctly in payroll: IK within the scale limit do not appear as taxable salary.

They appear on the separate online pay slip not subject to contributions. Beyond the scale, the surplus is subject to contributions and IR. 4. Archive the supporting documents: for 3 years for social law (Urssaf three-year prescription), 4 years for tax law (general recovery period from the tax administration).

The mileage scale is calculated to cover all expenses linked to the use of a vehicle:

• Depreciation (depreciation of the vehicle according to its value and total mileage)
• Maintenance costs (services, tires, technical checks)
• Insurance (professional portion)
• Fuel (or electricity for electric vehicles) In return, the employee or manager who opts for reimbursement in IK cannot deduct these same expenses separately if he also declares his actual expenses for income tax: the scale is global and flat-rate.

Managers (manager, SAS president, etc.) can also receive IK under the same conditions as employees. The deduction is allowed on the company side if:

• the displacement is real and documented;
• reimbursement is justified by a travel report;
• the vehicle actually belongs to the manager (and not to his spouse or to the company).

In the event of accumulation of management remuneration and IK, the administration checks the overall consistency (a manager declaring 50,000 professional km on a personal car while the company has a company vehicle will be at the forefront of an inspection).

You can extend with tax meal expenses 2026, laundry expenses 2026 and tax or social security question.

An accounting firm like Hayot Expertise can support you on several levels:

• Audit of your current practices: verification of the scale applied, the tax power used, the quality of the supporting documents in place;
• Establishment of a monitoring procedure: dashboard model, configuration in your payroll software, training of managers;
• Defense in the event of an Urssaf inspection: creation of the supporting file, support during the verification phases.

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