Mileage Tracking for Pet Sitters
Many pet sitters drive 4,000 to 12,000 business miles a year. At the 2026 IRS standard rate of 72.5 cents per mile, that is a deduction range of $2,900 to $8,700 for the workers who can claim it.
Who can deduct
Pet sitters and dog walkers (Rover, Wag, independent) are independent contractors. You file Schedule C and deduct every business mile at 72.5 cents per mile.
How pet sitters actually drive
Part-time pet sitters typically drive 4,000 to 7,000 miles a year. Full-time multi-client professionals working 5+ visits a day clear 10,000 to 12,000.
Typical deductible trips
The trips below are the ones pet sitters most commonly forget to log, plus the obvious ones. Auto-tracking catches all of them, including the small ones that add up.
- Driving to client homes for walks or drop-in visits
- Driving to overnight pet-sitting locations
- Driving between back-to-back client visits
- Driving to pick up supplies (food, treats) for clients
- Driving to a vet, groomer, or kennel for a client's pet
- Driving to dog parks or trails with a client's dog
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. For most pet sitters, that's enough to cover the routine driving without hitting the cap.
FAQ for pet sitters
Does Rover or Wag track my miles?
Both record miles when a service is active, but they do not count drives between back-to-back visits for different clients. Most pet sitters miss 30 percent or more of their deductible mileage if they only use platform-reported numbers.
Can I deduct miles to my own pet's vet?
No. Personal pet care is personal mileage, not deductible.
If I work from home, are drives to client homes deductible?
If you have a qualifying home office (regularly and exclusively used for pet-sitting business: scheduling, client communication, supply storage), drives from home to client visits are business miles. Without a home office, the first drive of the day from home is commuting.
Start tracking your pet sitters miles for free.
40 auto trips a month, free forever. Switch from any tracker with a one-tap CSV import.
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