How to claim travel expenses, by SARS TV on YouTube. 3 min 44 s.
- Video length
- 3 min 44 s
- Time to do it
- 45 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 8
What you need
Steps
Check your IRP5 to see whether a travel allowance was paid. If it was, the allowance is already taxed and you can claim the business travel portion back.
Choose a method. The simplified method uses a fixed rate per kilometre and no receipts. The actual cost method uses your real fuel, maintenance and insurance costs plus a logbook.
Start a logbook and fill it in every day you drive for work. Record the date, odometer reading at the start and end, kilometres travelled and the reason for the trip.
Leave out private trips, including your normal home to work commute. Only business kilometres count towards your claim.
Divide your business kilometres by your total kilometres for the year to get your business travel percentage.
Open your ITR12 return on SARS eFiling and go to the travel allowance section. Enter your allowance, your business kilometres and your expense amounts.
Complete Form SA3324 for your vehicle details if the return asks for it. Use the figures from your logbook, not estimates.
Submit the return before the filing season deadline. Save your logbook and receipts for at least five years in case SARS asks to see them.
Tips and common mistakes
Fill in your logbook as you go. A logbook rebuilt from memory at the end of the year is easy to get wrong and hard to defend.
If your allowance is more than your actual travel costs, the difference is added to your income and taxed.
Call the SARS Contact Centre on 0800 00 7277 between 08:00 and 16:00 on weekdays if a field on the return confuses you.
Get a registered tax practitioner to check your claim if you drive a company car or have more than one vehicle.
Questions
Do I need to keep receipts for a travel claim?
Yes, if you use the actual cost method. You need fuel, service, insurance and licence slips. Under the simplified method you still need a logbook showing your business kilometres.
Can I claim travel expenses if I get no allowance?
Usually not. You cannot claim your daily home to work travel. Only business travel linked to a travel allowance on your IRP5 is claimable this way.
What happens if my logbook is incomplete?
SARS can reduce or reject the claim and you may pay more tax plus penalties. Keep daily records with odometer readings to support every kilometre you claim.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
