Drive to the store
Heading to the store for a batch is business mileage.
For Instacart drivers
Track every Instacart mile you actually drive.
Full-service Instacart shoppers drive more than the app credits. The miles to the store, between batches, and out to customers are all deductible. MileShield captures them and produces an IRS-ready Schedule C.
As a full-service Instacart shopper, you are a 1099 contractor, and mileage is your biggest deduction. But the platform's mileage view is narrow. The drive to the store, the drive from the store to each customer, and the driving between batches are all deductible business miles that the app does not fully account for.
Grocery delivery involves a lot of this uncounted driving: heading to a store across town for a batch, delivering to several customers in a spread-out route, repositioning to a busier store. It is all business mileage, and most of it never shows up in an Instacart summary.
What counts
Deductible miles for Instacart drivers.
The miles below are business miles the IRS lets you deduct. MileShield captures them automatically as one continuous shift.
Store to customer
Each delivery leg from the store to a customer's door.
Between batches
Repositioning to your next store or waiting area while shopping.
Multi-stop batch driving
Every mile across a batch with multiple drop-offs.
Return from a far delivery
The drive back toward your working area.
Fuel stops while shopping
A gas stop during an active shift counts.
Common questions
Instacart taxes, answered.
Does Instacart track my mileage for taxes?
Instacart may provide a mileage estimate, but it does not fully capture the drive to the store, the miles between batches, or repositioning, all of which are deductible for full-service shoppers. The IRS requires your own contemporaneous log, and you can file with your own records when they show more business miles than the app reported.
What miles can I deduct as an Instacart shopper?
For full-service shoppers, business miles include the drive to the store, store-to-customer delivery legs, driving between batches, and fuel stops during a shift. Your commute from home to your first store and the drive home afterward are personal and do not count.
How much can an Instacart shopper save on taxes?
At the 2026 rate of 72.5 cents per mile through June 30 and 76 cents from July 1, a shopper logging 20,000 business miles deducts roughly $15,000, about $5,500 in combined tax savings depending on bracket. Shoppers who track manually or rely on the app estimate typically miss 15 to 30 percent of deductible miles.
Want the deeper version? Read our Schedule C walkthrough for gig workers.