Beginning on Jan. 1, 2009, the IRS standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups, or panel trucks) will be:

55 cents per mile for business miles driven

24 cents per mile for medical or moving purposes

14 cents per mile drivenin service of charitable organizations

The new rates for business, medical and moving purposes are slightly lower than rates for the second half of 2008, which were raised by a special mid-year adjustment in response to the spike in gasoline prices.