With the filing season for the submission of personal tax returns through eFiling now open, vehicle owners across the country are faced with the admin associated with creating tax logbooks in the hopes of getting a tax rebate for business-related trips and expenses.
And, with fuel and living costs as high as they currently are, who wouldn’t take advantage this?
Logbooks are a requirement for employees with travel or car allowances, and for employees using company cars. Travel allowances should only be granted in circumstances where an employer is certain that an employee will incur business-related expenses. Employees who have the benefit of using a company car also have to maintain a logbook in order to be able to claim a deduction of their annual tax back.
Unfortunately, without a detailed logbook, SARS won’t issue a rebate for the cost of business travel against a travel allowance.
Here’s what you need to know about vehicle expense and tax related travel claims
Whether you’re an individual drawing a travel allowance or a manager responsible for a fleet of company vehicles, here’s what you need to do, to be able to submit a logbook for tax purposes.
- Record the vehicle’s odometer reading (opening) on 1st March, i.e. on the first day of the tax year.
- Keep an accurate logbook throughout the year, recording the kilometres associated with business and private trips.
- Record the vehicle’s odometer reading (closing) on 28/29th February, i.e. on the last day of the tax year.
- Calculate the total kilometres for the full year, i.e. the difference between the closing and opening kilometres.
- Calculate the total kilometres travelled for business purposes.
- This is where your logbook plays an important role. For every business trip, SARS requires you to record the date of travel, the kilometres travelled, and the details of the trip (i.e. the starting point, where you went and the reason for the trip).
- Keep an accurate record of all your vehicle expenses including fuel, oil, repairs and maintenance, car licence, insurance, wear-and-tear and finance charges or lease costs to claim based on your actual costs.
- Use the cost scale table supplied by SARS if you did not keep a record of your vehicle expenses.
What are the benefits of using the automated tax logbook feature on the Matrix app?
Manual logbook keeping is an awful lot of admin, especially for those who are already short on time. On the flip side, there’s the ever-present risk that busy drivers will forget or procrastinate, resulting in a backlog that may be difficult – or impossible – to recover from when it’s time to submit your tax return.
In today’s day and age, with the technology that we have at our fingertips, there’s no reason that we should not be using the latest Matrix vehicle tracking app to easily monitor business and private trips, record expenses and automatically generate a SARS compliant tax logbook.
Matrix’s automated logbook allows you to manage your vehicle-related admin, effortlessly:
- Automate recording of all individual trips
- View individual trips and customise every destination
- Categorise as personal or business
- Customise and pin regular locations, such as your home or office
- For fleet managers, ensure logbooks are accurate and updated daily
- Regain control of employees abusing allowances for private mileage
- Monitor vehicle whereabouts and obtain mileage travelled, to calculate cost per kilometre, per vehicle.
- Export your tax logbook from the Matrix app to edit and submit to SARS
It’s time to automate – no more manual logbooks, no more lost pens, and no more rejected tax claims. Subscribe to Matrix and download the app today!