Cents per kilometre: what records should you keep?
To claim cents per kilometre in Australia, keep a reasonable basis for your business kilometres, including the trips and purpose behind the total. Fuel receipts and a distance total answer different questions, so know which records your method requires.
The method determines the paperwork
For an eligible car, the cents per kilometre method is an alternative to claiming actual car costs. It uses your business kilometres (up to an annual cap per car) and includes running costs in the rate. Keep the working that shows how you arrived at your business distance (see ATO — Motor vehicle expenses).
Make the distance explainable
A useful working record connects a journey with its date, business purpose and distance. Keep the unit clear, especially if you work across borders or use several platforms. Save the source behind any total you transfer into a tax calculation.
A contractor might group travel by job or customer; a driver might check platform statements against their own journey record. Either way, the useful question at year end is whether you can trace the total back to the work that produced it.
Where platform statements fit
Keep the statement's distance exactly as printed, including its label and period. If the same distance appears on a weekly and annual statement, compare the periods before combining them. A clear record lets you identify the overlap.
In Bilbx, distance explicitly printed on a payout statement is saved with its label and unit. Use that evidence alongside your other vehicle records when checking the business travel behind a claim.
Keep expenses with the vehicle records
Store the receipts and supporting documents you will use for the method you choose. Mark the vehicle or job in a way that will still make sense months later. Our income record guide explains how to connect customer payments and project costs.
Prepare the claim in Bilbx
Tax Lab can work out an Australian car claim using cents per kilometre. Read the published car rule for its tax year, rate and cap. Tax Lab preparation, tax categories and business/personal receipt splitting are free. Tax report exports are included with Premium. Money in and projects are free.
See Bilbx for Australia and the published tax rules for Australia alongside the regulator's guidance.
Sources
Ask about this guide
Got a question about your own receipt? Ask it, and get an answer from Bilbx's reviewed guides for Australia.
General information, not tax or legal advice.
Common questions
Can I use the distance printed on a payout statement?
You can keep the distance printed on a payout statement with its original label, unit and period, and use it alongside your other vehicle records when checking business travel. Bilbx saves distance explicitly printed on payout statements.
Does Bilbx save the label and unit for statement distance?
Yes. Distance explicitly printed on a payout statement is kept with its original label and unit, in kilometres or miles. Keep the statement period with your other records so you can check overlapping documents.
Every figure on this page is checked against the ATO's own guidance and linked in the sources above. Last checked . Thresholds change each tax year, so if you are reading this well after that date, confirm the current figures before you rely on them. Terms.
The tax rules behind this guide
Records of business use
12-week logbook, for 5 years
Business use: the logbook, the diary and floor area
The records the ATO accepts for the business share of a car, a phone or a home, and the years Bilbx's Tax Lab applies each for.
Read the ruleA rate for each kilometre or mile
91 cents per km
The cents per kilometre method: 91 cents per km, up to 5,000 km
A car's expenses can be claimed at a set rate for each business kilometre, up to 5,000 km a year, in place of the receipts. What the ATO says, and how Bilbx's Tax Lab claims it.
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