What is your logbook worth in tax?

How we calculate it

• No logbook, no claim — the whole allowance is taxed at your top rate.
• Cost scale: business km x (the fixed cost for the car’s value / total km + fuel c/km + maintenance c/km), from the SARS 2026/27 table. We assume you paid all the fuel and maintenance yourself.
• Actual cost: (your running costs for the year + wear and tear of the car’s value over seven years) x business km / total km.
• Either claim stops at the allowance you received; we use the bigger of the two.
• Tax saved = the claim x your top tax rate. PAYE during the year is on 80% of the allowance, or 20% if at least 80% of your km are business.
• Left out: part-year use (the fixed cost is cut by days), several cars in one year, and any limit on the cost used for wear and tear.

How a logbook saves you tax — the rules, the full cost-scale table and a worked example →

Where the figures come from

• Cost scale for years of assessment from 1 March 2026: Government Gazette 54228, notice 7182. SARS (Gazette PDF).
• PAYE on 80% / 20%: SARS Guide for Employers in respect of Allowances.
• Logbook rules, claim limited to the allowance, seven-year wear and tear: SARS Travel e-log book, SARS travel allowance leaflet.