car expenses ato

Ah, the Australian Tax Office and car expenses—an affair as thrilling as watching paint dry. Essentially, you can claim car expenses if you use your vehicle for work purposes, but not your daily commute (unless your job demands it). You have two main methods: the cents per kilometre method, which is a flat rate you multiply by work kilometres (up to 5,000 km), or the logbook method, which requires detailed records of all car expenses and work-use percentage.

Keep your receipts for fuel, maintenance, insurance, registration, and depreciation if you're using the logbook method. And remember, the ATO is quite fond of audits, so don’t even think about creative accounting.