During its May 12 conference call with payroll industry stakeholders, the IRS said that it has no current plans to increase the business standard mileage rate of 51 cents, even though gasoline prices have increased to levels not seen since the last time the IRS increased the rate mid-year in 2008. Ligeia Donis, Assistant Branch Chief, IRS Office of Chief Counsel, provided two reasons for IRS’s stance:

  • There is always the possibility that gas prices could decline, and there are some indications that may happen.
  • The IRS received some feedback from employers that the mid-year change in 2008 was difficult to implement.

-American Payroll Association