SnapBooksDownload the logbook
To use it in Google Sheets, upload the file to Google Drive and open it with Google Sheets; the formulas and totals carry over. It also opens in Excel, Numbers and LibreOffice.
What’s in the workbook
- Logbook: your car’s details, the 12-week logbook period with its odometer readings, and each work journey with its dates, reason and kilometres.
- Business use: worked out from your work kilometres and the total kilometres in the logbook period.
- Car expenses: the year’s expenses with the work-related portion, and the odometer readings on 1 July and 30 June.
- Cents per km: 91 cents a kilometre, with the 5,000 km cap applied for you.
What an ATO logbook must show
- When the logbook period starts and ends.
- The car’s odometer readings at the start and end of the logbook period.
- The total kilometres the car travelled in that period.
- For each work journey: the start and end date, the odometer readings at the start and end, the kilometres travelled and the reason for the journey.
- Your business-use percentage for the period.
Record each journey at the end of the trip or as soon as you can after. In each later year you rely on the logbook, also record the odometer at the start and end of the year.
Logbook or cents per km?
| Cents per km | Logbook method | |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | 91c × your work km, up to 5,000 km per car | Business-use % × your actual car expenses |
| What it covers | All running costs, including depreciation | Fuel, registration, insurance, repairs, interest, lease payments and depreciation |
| Records | No receipts, but you must show how you worked out your km, for example with diary records | A 12-week logbook (valid for 5 years) and receipts; fuel can be estimated from odometer records |
Usually not work travel
- Trips between home and your regular workplace.
- Private trips, including detours for personal reasons on the way to work.
General information, not tax advice. Check ato.gov.au or a registered tax agent for your situation.
Mileage logs for other countries
Frequently asked questions
What is the cents per km rate for 2026-27?
91 cents a kilometre, for up to 5,000 work kilometres per car, in the income year from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027.
How long is a logbook valid?
5 years. Start a new one sooner if your work travel changes, for example with a new job.
Do I need receipts for the cents per km method?
No, but you must be able to show how you worked out your work kilometres, for example with diary records.
How long do I keep the logbook?
For 5 years after the end of the latest income year you rely on it.