WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service, reflecting rising fuel and vehicle costs, is raising the standard mileage rate used to calculate the deductible costs of driving for business purposes.

As of Jan. 1, the rate will be 48.5 cents per mile for business miles driven. That is the same as the 48.5 cent rate temporarily imposed during the final months of 2005, when gas prices spiked in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

During 2006, the rate was 44.5 cents per mile.