What you need to know about keeping a SARS Logbook
What is a SARS Travel Logbook and why is it required?
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) requires that you (as a taxpayer) keep a SARS Travel Logbook as proof of all your business travel if:
- You are required to use your private vehicle for business purposes and
- You receive a travel allowance from your employer and
- You want to claim a Tax Deduction against your travel allowance on your Income Tax Return
What information must be recorded in your SARS logbook?
You are required to record your vehicle’s odometer reading on 1 March each year and again on the last day of February the following year. Record your business kilometers daily, while ensuring that your logbook contains the following minimum information relating to your business trips:
- Date of travel
- Kilometres travelled
- Travel details such as From, To and Reason
Where you used more than one vehicle during the tax year, a separate logbook must be kept for each vehicle that was used. Now that you know what is required, where do you get a copy of the SARS Travel Logbook?
Where can I download a SARS Logbook?
The SARS Logbook for 2021 can be downloaded here.
Trip Logbook can help you maintain your SARS Logbook
The Trip Logbook App can record your business and private kilometers automatically. Using the App, you can produce your vehicle logbook report in the required SARS Logbook format. You can also export the logbook to CSV format. The CSV file can be imported in Microsoft Excel.
Maintain your SARS Logbook with these App features
Automatically track your vehicle kilometers using your phone.
Capture your fuel, oil, repairs and maintenance costs.
Add, edit or delete trips at any time.
Review your logged trips and confirm trip details.
Quickly find all unconfirmed trips using the rich filter feature.
Quickly view the Business vs Private KM ratio using Trip Summary. Set a custom date range.
Export your trips to CSV format so that you can import your trip information to Excel or Numbers on your PC or Mac.
Export your trips directly to the required SARS Logbook PDF format.
Trip Logging will not be interrupted by network connection failures.
Backup your logged trip data whenever and as often as you like, using the backup and csv export features.
Example of a completed SARS Logbook exported from the Trip Logbook App
This is an example of a completed SARS Logbook exported from the Trip Logbook App.
