Expenses for a vehicle that isn't yours or isn't a car

Claiming a deduction for vehicle expenses

You can claim a deduction for work-related expenses for a vehicle that either:

• does not belong to you (is someone else's car)
• is not a car (such as a truck or motorcycle, whether it belongs to you or someone else).

A tax deduction for these expenses is claimed as a work-related travel expense, rather than a work-related car expense.

To claim a deduction:

• The expenses must be for work-related trips.  
  • You can claim for trips between workplaces or to perform your work duties.
  • You can't claim for trips between your home and place of work, except in limited circumstances.
• You must have spent the money yourself and weren't reimbursed.
• You must have a record of your expenses.

If your travel is partly private, you can only claim a deduction for the work-related portion of the expenses you incur.

If the vehicle is a car and belongs to you, you calculate and claim your deduction in a different way. See Expenses for a car you own or lease.

If you receive an allowance from your employer for vehicle expenses, you must include it as assessable income in your tax return. The allowance amount is shown on your income statement or payment summary.

Someone else's vehicle

This means a vehicle owned by your employer or anyone other than you.

You can't claim running costs for a car you use under a salary sacrifice or novated lease arrangement. In this situation the car is usually leased by your employer from a financing company, and your employer typically pays for the running costs and claims deductions. You can claim additional expenses, like parking and tolls associated with your work use of the car.

If you use a car owned by a family member, and you can show there is a private arrangement that made you the owner or lessee of the car (even if you aren't the registered owner), you work out your car expenses as though it is your car.

A vehicle that isn't a car

Vehicles that are not cars include motorcycles, scooters and similar vehicles, and vehicles with:

• greater than one tonne carrying capacity such as trucks, heavy vehicles and some utes
• a carrying capacity of 9 or more passengers (including the driver), such as a minibus.

Calculate deduction for vehicle expenses

To claim a deduction for a vehicle that isn't yours or isn't a car, you:

• work out your actual expenses for your work-related travel in the vehicle
• claim the deduction in your tax return as a work-related travel expense (not as a work-related car expense).

You can't use the cents per kilometre method or the logbook method to work out your claim. However, as you can only claim a deduction for the expenses related to your work-related travel, you may wish to keep a document similar to a logbook to calculate your work-related use percentage. While it is not a requirement, it is the easiest way to show how you calculated the expenses related to your work-related travel.

Keeping records of vehicle expenses

You must keep:

• evidence of how you calculated your work-related use of the vehicle
• original receipts for all of your vehicle expenses
• details of how you work out your claim for the decline in value of the vehicle, including the effective life and method you use.

You can use the myDeductions tool in the ATO app to keep your vehicle expense records.