How to Claim Vehicle Expenses in Australia (2026 Guide)

Quick answer

A business vehicle in Australia is claimed at the business-use percentage, with the purchase relieved through the instant asset write-off (under $20,000, small business) or depreciation, capped for cars at the $69,883 car limit for 2026-27. The GST credit on a car is capped at $6,353. Running costs follow the logbook percentage, unless you use the all-in cents per kilometre method. Company cars with private use bring fringe benefits tax into the picture.

Is a vehicle tax deductible in Australia?

Yes, at the business share, and the claim splits into buying and running. Running costs (fuel, servicing, registration, insurance) are deductible each year at the business-use percentage set by a 12-week logbook, or swallowed whole by the cents per kilometre rate if you choose that method. The purchase itself is a capital cost claimed through the depreciation system, and for cars a set of ceilings applies that does not exist for most other assets.

What counts as a “car” matters: a vehicle designed to carry less than one tonne and fewer than nine passengers. A one-tonne-plus ute or a nine-seater people mover is not a car for these rules, which means no car limit on depreciation, no GST credit cap, and no access to the cents per kilometre method; it claims actual costs like any other business asset.

How much can you claim?

For 2026-27 the numbers that frame a car purchase:

Worked example: an agency buys an $84,000 SUV (a car) used 75% for business. Depreciation is computed on the car limit of $69,883, not $84,000, and then restricted to 75% business use. Its GST credit is capped at $6,353 x 75%, about $4,765, coded GST on Capital. A $58,000 one-tonne ute for the same agency has no such caps: full depreciation base and a full GST credit on the business share.

The instant asset write-off rarely helps with cars because of the $20,000 per-asset ceiling, but it routinely covers trailers, tool modules, and second-hand runabouts. The threshold no longer lapses each June: the permanent $20,000 write-off announced in the May 2026 Budget became law on 26 August 2026.

GST and FBT

A GST-registered business claims the input tax credit on the business share of the purchase (capped for cars) and running costs, coded GST on Capital and GST on Expenses respectively. Then comes the ownership-structure fork: a sole trader apportions private use and moves on, while a company or trust that makes a vehicle available for private use generally provides a car fringe benefit and pays FBT. Eligible electric cars under the luxury car tax threshold can be FBT-exempt, which is why so many small companies have gone electric for the work car.

Record-keeping requirements

Keep the purchase contract, the logbook establishing the business percentage, odometer readings, and running-cost receipts, all for five years. For a pooled or depreciated vehicle, the depreciation schedule needs to survive the vehicle’s whole life in the business, including the disposal entry when it is sold or traded in, because sale proceeds adjust the pool or trigger a balancing adjustment.

How to claim, step by step

1. Classify the vehicle: car (under one tonne, under nine passengers) or not. This decides every cap that follows.
2. Set the business-use percentage with a 12-week logbook.
3. Apply the instant asset write-off if the vehicle qualifies and the threshold is law for your year, otherwise depreciate, capping a car’s cost at $69,883.
4. Claim the GST credit on the business share, capped at $6,353 for a car, on the BAS for the purchase period.
5. Claim running costs at the logbook percentage each year (or use cents per kilometre and claim nothing else).
6. On disposal, account for the proceeds in the depreciation computation, and revisit FBT if the vehicle was provided to staff.

Common mistakes

• Depreciating the full price of a car above the car limit.
• Claiming a full GST credit on an expensive car instead of the capped $6,353.
• Claiming the cents per kilometre rate plus depreciation on the same car.
• Treating a company car with private use as a simple deduction and ignoring FBT.
• Relying on an announced but unlegislated write-off threshold when timing a purchase.

Software that helps

• Driversnote produces the logbook that sets the business percentage every other number depends on.
• ExpenseFlow captures the purchase invoice and running costs, applies the right GST codes including the capital treatment on the purchase, flags vehicle costs for apportionment, and syncs approved transactions to Xero or QuickBooks Online.
• Xero carries the fixed-asset register where the depreciation schedule and disposal live.

FAQ

See the answered questions above for the car limit, instant asset write-off, depreciation, FBT, and method exclusivity.