What is the IRS mileage rate for 2019?

On December 14, 2018, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued its annual guidance on the business mileage reimbursement rate^[1] effective January 1, 2019. With a suggested rate increase from 54.5 to 58 cents per mile year over year (representing a 6.4% increase), the 2019 IRS mileage rate is the highest per mile in more than 10 years. Similar increases have occurred throughout the globe. 

How can you measure and mitigate the potential business impact?

As a cloud solution with thousands of data inputs for every customer we serve, SAP Concur’s value proposition often hinges on the increased spend visibility and compliance our customers will gain. Too often, however, organizations find it difficult to take full advantage of their data in order to solve complex business challenges. In my experience as a customer and now at SAP Concur itself, I’ve found that breaking down this barrier with the data is best done one business challenge at a time. The new mileage rate increase offers a fantastic opportunity for customers of all sizes to dust off their data and put it to work to positively influence financial success:

Step 1: Determine just how much domestic U.S. mileage you had in 2018. This is most easily accomplished through reporting. Regardless of the SAP Concur analytics solution your organization is using, this spend data is available to you. Calculate your total U.S. mileage spend in 2018, multiply that amount by 106.4%, and determine an estimate of your increased costs for 2019. Follow the same approach for the mileage spend and reimbursement guidance for other countries in which your organization operates, and you will be able to put together a total impact study that your entire organization will benefit from seeing. If you need help on the analytics component, reach out to a member of your account team. We are here to help.