Mileage log requirements of the Dutch Tax Administration

A mileage log matters for two groups of freelancers: those who claim business kilometres with a private car, and those who want to avoid the private use addition on a company car. In both cases the Tax Administration does not accept estimates, only records that add up.

Private car: 0.23 euros per business kilometre

If you drive privately and use the car for work, you may deduct 0.23 euros per business kilometre from your profit. Commuting counts as business for tax purposes. You do not need a complete log of every trip, but you must be able to substantiate the kilometres you claim: date, from, to and the number of kilometres per trip is the minimum. Nice to know: a return trip simply counts double.

Company car: the 500-kilometre threshold

If the car is owned by the business, you face the private use addition once you drive more than 500 private kilometres per year. To stay under it, the Tax Administration demands a complete trip log: records showing all trips, the entire year, without gaps. The burden of proof is on you.

What a complete log must contain

• Make, model and licence plate of the car, and the period you had it.
• Per trip: the date, the odometer reading at the start and end, the departure and arrival address, and whether it was a business or private trip.
• If you took a detour (for a stop along the way), also record the route driven.
• For a business trip with a private detour: the detour kilometres separately as private.

A notebook, spreadsheet or app all work; updating it weekly after the fact is fine, as long as it is complete and verifiable. Odometer readings are recorded at garage visits and inspections; large gaps between your records and those readings stand out immediately in an audit.

What goes wrong (and what it costs)

The classics: reconstructing trips afterwards from your calendar, suspiciously round kilometre counts, and private trips that get "forgotten". If the Tax Administration rejects your log, the addition applies to the whole year after all, plus possibly a fine. With an average car that quickly runs into thousands of euros. Check what is at stake with the bijtelling calculator, or compare the scenarios with the business-or-private calculator.

In Finq you log a trip in seconds: addresses, kilometres and the 0.23 euro allowance are tracked for you, a return trip automatically counts double, and you can bill trips to your client's invoice if you like.