Fairmile
Free template · Australia
ATO logbook template
Checked against the ATO's logbook method on October 24, 2026.
Free download
Everything the ATO asks for
One row per work journey, with the car, the 12-week period and its odometer readings at the top. Opens in Excel, Numbers and Google Sheets; print it for the glovebox.
What the logbook must show
Keep it for at least 12 continuous weeks that broadly represent how you use the car across the year. Write each journey down when it ends, or as soon as you can afterwards. The logbook needs:
- The odometer reading at the start and end of the logbook period, and the total kilometres travelled in it
- For every work journey: the date, the destination, the reason for it, the odometer reading at the start and end, and the kilometres
- Your work-related use percentage: work kilometres divided by total kilometres
Two or more work journeys in a row on the same day can be recorded as one. Driving between home and your regular workplace is private, not work travel. With two or more cars, keep a logbook for each, covering the same weeks.
How long it lasts
A logbook is valid for five years. In each of the four years after the first, record the odometer at the start and end of the income year and apply the logbook's percentage. If your driving changes, for example a new job or a move, keep a new 12-week logbook. Hold on to the logbook and odometer records for five years after the last income year you use them for.
Working out the claim
If you drove 9,000 km in your 12 weeks and 6,300 km were work journeys, your work-related use is 70%: you claim 70% of the car's running costs and its decline in value. Keep receipts for those costs. Fuel is the exception: you can estimate it from your odometer readings, the car's fuel use and the year's average fuel price.
Or cents per kilometre
| Income year | Rate | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| 2026–27 (from July 1, 2026) | 91c | 5,000 work km per car |
| 2025–26 | 88c | 5,000 work km per car |
Without a logbook you can claim a flat rate per work kilometre, up to 5,000 km a car each year. The rate covers all running costs and decline in value, and you need to be able to show how you worked out the kilometres, such as diary records. Above 5,000 km, only the logbook method counts the rest.
Fairmile
Fairmile keeps the logbook for you: every journey with its date, places and kilometres from GPS, your odometer readings, and a logbook PDF with your work-related use percentage at the end of the 12 weeks.
General information, not tax advice. A registered tax agent can tell you which method suits you.
Sources: Australian Taxation Office, Logbook method and Cents per kilometre method.