When May You File A Claim For Travel Expenses?
You can claim a deduction on your yearly income tax return for the use of a private motor vehicle for business purposes if you get a travel allowance from your employer or principle.
- Very Important – Your IRP5 certificate must contain code 3701.
What Am I Required To Do?
- The first day of the tax year, March 1, is the date when you should record the odometer reading on your car.
- Keep a logbook all year. It’s worth noting that private travel is not required to be documented.
- On February 28th or 29th (last day of the month) of the following year, record your motor car’s final odometer reading.
- Add up the total number of kilometers you’ve driven in a year. Take the closing kilometres and deduct the opening kilometres.
- Calculate all of your business kilometers for the year to get a total.
Important Note : SARS does not consider travel from your personal residence to your place of work as business kilometers, but considers travel from your personal residence directly to a client as business travel.
What Information Should I Write In My Logbook?
- Travel date.
- The distance traveled.
- Details of your business trip. Where did you begin your journey, where did you go, and what was the purpose of your journey?
How Do I Calculate The Amount That I May Claim?
- Use the cost scale chart that SARS provides to calculate your claim.
- Calculate your claim using the cost scale chart provided by SARS. To do so, you’ll need to keep a detailed account of all your spending during the year, as well as a log book.
- Fuel, oil, maintenance and repairs, automobile license, insurance, wear and tear, and loan or leasing payments are all need to be included in these expenditures.
Example Of The SARS Travel Logbook :
