Mileage Tracking for HVAC Technicians
Many HVAC technicians drive 10,000 to 22,000 business miles a year. At the 2026 IRS standard rate of 72.5 cents per mile, that is a deduction range of $7,250 to $15,950 for the workers who can claim it.
Who can deduct
Self-employed HVAC techs deduct mileage on Schedule C at 72.5 cents per mile. W-2 techs employed by a shop cannot deduct on the federal return; pursue employer reimbursement, which is mandated for W-2 employees in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, and New York.
How HVAC technicians actually drive
A commercial HVAC tech covering multi-county service routes commonly logs 18,000 to 22,000 miles a year. Residential techs log 12,000 to 18,000.
Typical deductible trips
The trips below are the ones HVAC technicians most commonly forget to log, plus the obvious ones. Auto-tracking catches all of them, including the small ones that add up.
- Driving to residential service calls (no-cool, no-heat, maintenance contracts)
- Driving to commercial system inspections and service
- Driving to wholesale supply houses for parts
- Driving to required EPA Section 608 certification and CE events
- Driving to install jobs that span multiple days
How TruMile helps
TruMile auto-detects every drive using motion plus location, so the trips above get logged whether you remember them or not. Smart classification learns your repeat routes (between regular client homes, between job sites, to your supply store) and starts tagging them automatically after a few trips.
At year-end, one tap turns your trip log into an IRS-compliant CSV or PDF you can hand to your accountant or paste into Schedule C. The math is already done.
Free for 40 auto trips a month, every month. If you are anywhere near the high end of the typical mileage range, the unlimited Pro tier at $7.99 a month or $59.99 a year usually pays for itself in the first week of tax season.
FAQ for HVAC technicians
Maintenance-contract drives, are those deductible?
Yes. Driving to a customer for a scheduled maintenance visit on a contract is business mileage, just like emergency calls.
I'm a 1099 sub for a larger HVAC company. Am I deducting correctly?
If you receive a 1099-NEC and file Schedule C, you deduct your own business mileage. Your relationship with the larger company is contractor-to-contractor, not employer-to-employee.
What about miles to pick up a customer's equipment for warranty work?
Yes. Picking up or returning customer equipment as part of a warranty repair is business driving.
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