I didn't track my miles this year. What now?
You are not automatically out of luck, but you are in a weaker position than you would have been. Publication 463 asks for records kept at or near the time of the trip. A log rebuilt later is still a record — it is simply less persuasive evidence, and the burden of substantiating the deduction is yours.
Rebuild it from real, dated evidence you already have. Do not estimate a round number and write it down.
Evidence you probably already have
Most gig drivers have more dated records than they realise:
- Platform trip history. Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart, Amazon Flex and Spark all retain per-trip records with dates and, usually, pickup and drop-off locations.
- Bank and card statements. Fuel purchases place your vehicle at a location on a date.
- Service records. Oil changes and inspections record odometer readings on dated invoices — these are unusually good evidence, because two of them bracket a known mileage total.
- Phone location history, if you have it enabled.
- Toll and parking records.
The strongest reconstruction anchors total miles between two dated odometer readings, then allocates them across days using platform trip history.
What a reconstruction cannot fix
Be clear-eyed about the limits. A reconstruction built only from platform-reported mileage will usually understate your real business miles, because platforms typically record the miles they paid you for and not the miles between jobs or the drive to a staging area. It also cannot manufacture the business-purpose and destination detail Publication 463 asks for if no underlying record exists.
And in 2026 there is a new wrinkle: because the rate changed on July 1, a reconstruction has to place each mile on the correct side of that date. A single annual estimate cannot do this. See the two-rate explainer.
The honest framing
Nobody can tell you online what position to take on your own return — that depends on the quality of your evidence, and it is a conversation for a tax professional. What is true generally: a contemporaneous log is materially stronger than a reconstruction, reconstructions built from dated third-party records are materially stronger than estimates, and the fix for next year is trivially cheap compared to the difference.
Start the clock again today
Whatever happened this year, the record for the rest of it starts now. Note today's odometer reading somewhere dated. From this point you have a hard anchor.
MileTruth. "I didn't track my miles this year. What now?." Baker Ventures LLC, September 4, 2026. https://miletruth.bakerventuresstudio.com/answers/didnt-track-my-miles