If you use your car for your business, there are costs that you can deduct. In this article, we explain how to encode your car expenses in three steps.
If you drive a Utility vehicle
If you drive a Passenger car
Decide whether your car is considered private or business
How to deduct your Private Car
How to deduct your Business Car
Deduct all expenses related to your vehicle, in full:
Costs for the purchase of a company car (deducted over the years via amortization)
Leasing costs for the company car
Insurance costs for a company car
Gas expenses
Maintenance and repair costs
In the app, simply add your business expenses, with professional use = 100%. Remember to attach the receipt/invoice for every expense.
You need to decide if you have a private or business car. The table below will help you to decide that.
How many kilometers do you drive for business | Your car is | What can you deduct? |
< 10% | Private | commuter allowance (if applicable) + mileage allowance |
10% - 50% | You decide | It depends on your choice |
> 50% | Business asset | The actual costs (1% rule) or the proportional costs (logbook) |
Use our online tool to estimate how much you can deduct and which method is the most optimized for you.
If you have a private vehicle, then you can deduct the costs for the commuter allowance and the mileage allowance. Since you bear all other costs yourself, you do not have to add any monetary advantage for the private use.
With the commuter allowance you can deduct €0.38 per kilometer of distance to your workplace (e.g. an office or your own business). To do this, you can note the distance and the days on which you drove to your place of work and create an expense in Accountable with the category Drive to work to the office.
Note that this allowance can be used independently of the mean of transportation (public transport, bike, car), however the maximum deduction is 4.500€/year for transport that is not your car.
If you drive to your customers with your private car, you can deduct €0.30 per kilometer driven (30ct for cars, 20ct for motorbiles). Make a note of the kilometers driven and the customer or reason for the trip and the time/date immediately afterward, preferably on a sheet of paper. Select the category Car private use for the expense in Accountable.
If you have a business car, you can deduct the costs for it proportionally or completely, but you have to declare a monetary benefit (a fictitious income that covers the private use).
You have the choice between the 1% rule and the logbook. You have to decide this, as soon as it becomes your business car.
If you opt for the 1% rule:
you can deduct 100% of the vehicle costs, e.g. repair costs and fuel costs;
In return, you have to enter 1% of the gross list price as monthly income (the percentage goes down to 0.5% for EVs, and even 0.25% if the list price of your EV is below €60.000);
You will pay 19% VAT on 80% of this monthly income.
Expenses: In the app, you can simply enter all your costs for your car with 100% business use.
Additional income: simply create a revenue each month with two items, one with 80% of the calculated value as other income plus 19% VAT and the second position with the remaining 20% and 0% VAT. Choose the category Other incomes.
⚠️ You have to create this revenue monthly.
Here is an example with a gross list price of €30.000:
If you decide to use a logbook, you have to record all your trips in such a way that the entries cannot be changed by using a (digital) logbook.
Each trip must be documented in detail and include the following information:
Date
Time
Destination
Purpose of the trip / business partner
Mileage at the beginning of the trip
Mileage at the end of the trip
If necessary unavoidable detours
Expenses: In the app, you can simply enter all your costs for your car. In the professional use field, input an estimate of the professional share of kilometers driven for the entire year. Use always the same % throughout the year. If necessary, this % can be updated at the end of the year with the yearly VAT declaration and EÜR.
Example: You have estimated the professional use at 60% and at the end of the year you find out that the actual professional use was lower. In this case, you must record the difference to the 60% as monetary advantage (fictitious income).
However, the maximum amount to be deducted for traveling to your place of work is €0.38 per kilometer, similarly as for private vehicles (see above). You must therefore calculate how high your actual travel costs to the workplace were, and decrease your deductible expenses (with a cancellation expense, for example) if you have deducted more than this amount.
Additional income: none to be considered in this scenario.
You can use our Online Spreadsheet tool to get an estimate of how much you can deduct, as well as a calculation of the best way to deduct your car expenses.
That's it, you're ready to deduct your professional car expenses.
Still have questions, or not sure how to do it? Contact us at support@accountable.eu
Author - Valesca Wilms
As content marketing lead at Accountable Belgium, Valesca writes about freelancing, self-employment, and taxes based on her own experience as a freelancer.
Who is Valesca ?Thank you for your feedback!
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