How to Keep a SARS-Compliant Mileage Logbook
A practical guide to keeping a SARS-compliant mileage logbook in South Africa - what fields are required, what common mistakes cost taxpayers their deductions, and how to make sure your records hold up in an audit.
How to Keep a SARS-Compliant Mileage Logbook
Every year, South African contractors and freelancers who drive for their work lose legitimate tax deductions for one reason: their logbook does not meet the SARS standard.
The mileage deduction requires proof. Not an estimate, not a calendar reconstruction, not a fuel receipt. SARS requires a logbook - a contemporaneous record of every business trip during the tax year.
What SARS requires in a mileage logbook
A compliant logbook must include:
Annual vehicle records:
- Make, model, and year of the vehicle
- Vehicle registration number
- Opening odometer reading on 1 March
- Closing odometer reading on 28 or 29 February
Per-trip records (for every business trip):
- Date of the trip
- Number of kilometres travelled
- Starting point
- Destination (client name and location)
- Business purpose or reason for the trip
Per-trip odometer start and end readings are not an explicit SARS minimum requirement per trip. The mandatory odometer readings are the annual opening and closing figures. Recording per-trip readings is good practice and strengthens your records, but the core per-trip requirement is the five fields listed above.
The logbook must also record your total kilometres driven (private and business combined) so SARS can calculate the business-use percentage.
The prescribed rate for 2026/2027
For the 2026/2027 tax year (1 March 2026 to 28 February 2027), the SARS prescribed rate is R4.95 per kilometre.
For self-employed persons, business travel is deducted under section 11(a) of the Income Tax Act as expenditure incurred in the production of income. Many practitioners use the prescribed rate as a reference point for this calculation - confirm the correct approach with your tax practitioner.
The most common mistakes
1. Not starting on 1 March
The SARS tax year runs from 1 March to 28/29 February. Take a photo of your odometer on 1 March and save it.
2. Vague business purpose descriptions
"Meeting" or "client" is insufficient. "Client site visit - [Client Name], 14 Sandton Drive" is sufficient. The description must make the business purpose clear.
3. Round numbers that look reconstructed
A logbook with exactly 500 km every Monday for twelve months invites scrutiny. Real driving produces varied distances.
4. No closing odometer reading
The closing reading on the last day of February is as important as the opening. Without it, SARS cannot verify your total kilometres.
5. Missing periods
Any period where you drove for business but have no entries represents a potential disallowance that cannot be fixed retrospectively.
How long must you keep your logbook?
Under section 29 of the Tax Administration Act No. 28 of 2011, you must keep records for five years from the date of submission of the return - not from the date of assessment.
If records relate to an ongoing audit, objection, or appeal, retain them until that process concludes regardless of how long it takes.
Paper vs digital
SARS accepts both paper and digital logbooks. A digital logbook that records trips in real time produces entries that are harder to challenge, because the timing of each entry is recorded alongside the trip data.
Expenstry logs each trip at the moment it happens. Add the business purpose when you arrive, and the app maintains your annual odometer records and produces a formatted SARS-ready export.
Start your 30-day free trial at expenstry.com - no credit card required.