If you’re clocking up kilometers for work - remember to log it

If your car is owned by the business and you want us to consider the taxable value for fringe benefits under the log book method, the ATO requires you to keep a 12 week continuous log book.

If you do not hold a valid log book at the end of the FBT year (31 March 2015), the motor vehicles taxable value will be calculated on the initial cost. This method can result in a higher taxable value than the log book method which is based on the private use percentage and operating costs.

So … if you haven’t been recording travel information in a log book, you need to start no later than 1 January 2016, as this is 12 weeks prior to the end of the FBT Year (31 March 2015).

For information on how to complete a log book or what constitutes a valid log book, visit https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Income-and-deductions-for-business/Business-travel-expenses/Motor-vehicle-expenses/Calculating-your-deduction/Keeping-a-logbook/

Note:

If you are preparing a log book, the first and last trip of your day from home to work is most likely considered by the ATO as private.

If you have included travel to and from your home and work and between workplaces as business travel, it’s important you consider the ATO’s requirements. For example the following trip between work and home cannot be claimed as business trips:

• you do minor work-related tasks – for example, picking up the mail on the way to work or home
• you have to drive between your home and your workplace more than once a day
• you are on call – for example, you are on stand-by duty and your employer contacts you at home to come into work
• you work outside normal business hours – for example, shift work or overtime
• your home was a place where you ran your own business and you travelled directly to a place of work where you worked for somebody else
• you do some work at home.

For more information go to https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Income-and-deductions/Deductions-you-can-claim/Vehicle-and-travel-expenses/Travel-between-home-and-work-and-between-workplaces/