Home Media Center News Releases

Washington D.C. – The government should consider a second increase in the mileage reimbursement rates for employees who use their own vehicles for business travel, NTEU National President Tony Reardon said in a written request to the IRS Commissioner.

The IRS initially raised the rates for 2022 by 2.5 cents, to 58.5 cents per mile, but higher gasoline prices this spring and summer warrant a mid-year adjustment as well, Reardon told IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig in a Monday letter.

“This would save federal employees from having to pay out of their own pockets for the increased travel expenses incurred in their duties as IRS revenue agents and officers, FDIC bank examiners or other federal occupations that require frequent and even daily travel while on the job,” Reardon wrote. “It would also do the same for many private sector employees.”

The federal government’s mileage reimbursement rate matches the amount set by the IRS as the maximum rate allowed to be deducted as a business expense. According to the IRS, the December decision to set the mileage rate is based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile, which means the last study was done before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February and the resulting price hikes.

“I hope you will do whatever you can to see that all Americans who must depend on their cars to perform their jobs get some relief, including those who work for the federal government,” Reardon wrote.

NTEU represents about 150,000 employees in 34 federal agencies and offices.