Logbook method (car expenses)
Claim your car’s real business-use share of running costs.
The logbook method works out the business-use percentage of your car by keeping a logbook for a representative 12 continuous weeks. You then claim that percentage of your actual running costs — fuel, servicing, insurance, registration and depreciation. It usually beats the cents-per-kilometre method when you drive a lot for work.
Worked example
Your logbook shows 12,000 km over the year, 7,200 of them for work — a 60% business-use share. Your total running costs were $9,000, so you claim 60% × $9,000 = $5,400. Under cents-per-km you’d have been capped at 5,000 business km instead.
Common mistake
Counting the drive between home and your usual workplace as business kilometres. That’s private travel, and it’s the fastest way to turn a legitimate claim into an adjusted one.
Grounded in ATO guidance. Figures last checked . General information, not tax advice.
Related terms
Cents per kilometre method
A simpler car claim — a set rate per business km, capped.
Depreciation (decline in value)
Claiming the cost of a big asset gradually over its life.
Substantiation (proving a deduction)
The records that turn a claim into a defensible deduction.
Instant asset write-off
Immediately deduct an eligible asset instead of depreciating it.
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Questions about this term
Logbook method (car expenses): common questions
- How long do I need to keep a logbook for?
- A representative 12 continuous weeks. The logbook establishes your business-use percentage, and you then claim that percentage of your actual running costs — fuel, servicing, insurance, registration and depreciation. The 12 weeks should reflect your normal driving, since the percentage it produces is what every claim under this method rests on.
- How do I work out my car claim under the logbook method?
- Multiply your actual running costs by the business-use percentage from your logbook. If 7,200 of 12,000 kilometres were for work, the share is 60%; on $9,000 of running costs the claim is 60% × $9,000 = $5,400. Under cents per kilometre the same driving would have been capped at 5,000 business kilometres.
- Does driving from home to my usual workplace count as business kilometres?
- No — that is private travel. Counting the daily commute in the logbook is the fastest way to turn a legitimate claim into an adjusted one, because it inflates the business-use percentage that every running cost is then multiplied by. Keep the commute out of the business column and the percentage stays defensible.
- When does the logbook method beat cents per kilometre?
- Usually when you drive a lot for work. Cents per kilometre is capped at 5,000 business kilometres per car; the logbook method has no cap and claims your real business share of your real costs. At 7,200 business kilometres the logbook already wins, and the gap widens the more you drive.
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