CRA Mileage Log Book Template and Record-Keeping Guide

A CRA mileage log book template is a record for tracking vehicle trips so you can separate business kilometres from personal kilometres and support vehicle-expense claims. Use the blank template below to record each trip, then keep a yearly odometer summary and your expense receipts with it.

What a CRA Mileage Log Is For

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) does not require you to use one particular branded mileage-log form. What matters is keeping clear, complete records that support the kilometres and expenses you report. A log can be paper-based or electronic, provided the information is readable, consistent and available if requested.

A mileage log helps establish the business-use percentage of a vehicle. For example, if a vehicle travelled 20,000 kilometres during the year and 5,000 were for business, the business-use percentage is 25%. That percentage is generally used to calculate the business share of eligible vehicle expenses, subject to the rules and limits that apply to the expense and the person claiming it.

The log is supporting evidence, not a deduction by itself. Keep receipts and other records for the costs you claim, and make sure the trip descriptions match the work activity. A note such as “client visit” is more useful when it identifies the destination and business reason than a vague entry such as “work.”

Printable CRA Mileage Log Book Template

What Information to Record for Each Trip

Record trips close to the time they happen rather than relying on memory at tax time. For each trip, note the date, where you started, the destination, the reason for travelling, and the kilometres driven. Odometer readings at the beginning and end of a trip make the distance easy to verify; if you use a distance estimate instead, identify it as an estimate and use a consistent method.

• Date: Include the day, month and year.
• Destination and route context: Name the client, supplier, worksite or other destination. Add the starting point when it helps explain the trip.
• Purpose: Describe the work-related activity, such as a site inspection, delivery or meeting.
• Distance: Enter the kilometres for the trip and, where practical, the odometer readings.
• Classification: Mark the trip as business or personal, or split it if a trip included both types of travel.

Do not label a trip as business solely because you made a work call or thought about work while driving. The travel itself should have a business purpose supported by the facts. Ordinary travel between home and a regular workplace is generally personal commuting; unusual work arrangements can change the analysis, so describe the actual trip rather than assuming its treatment.

How to Calculate Business Use

At the end of the relevant period, compare business kilometres with the vehicle’s total kilometres. The basic calculation is:

Business-use percentage = business kilometres ÷ total kilometres × 100

For instance, suppose a vehicle travelled 18,000 kilometres in a year, of which 4,500 kilometres were documented business trips. The calculation is 4,500 ÷ 18,000 = 0.25, or 25%. The log should support the 4,500 business kilometres, while odometer readings or other reliable records support the 18,000-kilometre total.

Apply the resulting percentage only where the applicable rules call for allocating mixed business and personal vehicle costs. Fuel, repairs and insurance are examples of costs that may need allocation; some expenses have separate conditions or limits. Keep invoices and receipts, and do not assume that every vehicle-related payment is claimable in the same way. Business-only costs may be treated differently from costs shared with personal use.

Full-Year Logs and the Simplified Logbook Method

A full logbook records vehicle use across the entire relevant 12-month period. It provides a direct record of business and personal travel throughout the year and is a practical starting point, particularly when business use changes seasonally or the vehicle is used for several kinds of work.

The CRA also describes a simplified logbook option for eligible situations. In general, a taxpayer first keeps a full logbook for one complete 12-month base year. In a later year, a logbook covering a continuous three-month sample period may be used to estimate annual business use if the business-use percentage in that sample period is within 10 percentage points of the percentage in the base year. The sample-period percentage is then applied to that later year’s total kilometres.

For example, if the base-year business-use percentage was 40%, a later three-month sample showing 46% is within six percentage points. If the sample showed 53%, the difference would be 13 percentage points, outside that range. Do not assume the simplified method applies just because you have a few months of notes: retain the base-year log and verify the current CRA conditions, including how to handle a change in vehicle or use.

Employees, Self-Employed People and Reimbursements

The log may be useful to different readers, but the rules for claiming vehicle costs depend on the person’s circumstances. A self-employed person may need the log to support the business portion of eligible vehicle expenses. An employee’s ability to deduct employment expenses has separate requirements and may depend on the employment arrangement and supporting employer documentation. A mileage log alone does not make an employee expense claim eligible.

Employer-paid mileage allowances are another distinct situation. CRA treatment can depend on whether an allowance is reasonable and on the travel and payment circumstances. The prescribed per-kilometre rates used for certain employer allowances are not a universal substitute for calculating a self-employed person’s actual eligible vehicle expenses. Keep the log and reimbursement records so the nature of the payment and the trips can be distinguished.

If your situation involves multiple vehicles, a vehicle change during the year, mixed employment and business use, or uncertain treatment of a trip, ask a qualified tax professional. This article provides general record-keeping information, not tax advice.

Record-Keeping Habits That Make the Log Useful

A log is more convincing when it is contemporaneous, complete and consistent with the rest of your records. Set a routine that fits your travel: enter a trip after parking, keep a paper sheet in the vehicle, or update a digital record at the end of each day. At regular intervals, compare the log’s odometer readings with the vehicle odometer and correct any obvious omission with a dated explanation rather than silently changing old entries.

• Write down opening and closing odometer readings for the year, and note the date of each reading.
• Keep repair, fuel, insurance and other relevant receipts in a system that connects them to the vehicle and year.
• Retain appointment calendars, invoices or work orders that help explain the business purpose of a trip.
• Use one consistent rule for recording kilometres, rounding and mixed-purpose journeys.
• Preserve the original record if you correct an error, and note what changed and why.

CRA record-retention rules generally require records to be kept for six years from the end of the tax year to which they relate, though exceptions can apply. Keep the log and its supporting documents together, and make sure electronic records can still be opened and read. A spreadsheet or printed page is only useful if it is backed up and available when needed.

Common Mileage-Log Problems

Reconstructing the year from memory: This often leaves missing dates, unclear destinations or distances that cannot be checked. Reconstructing from calendars, receipts and work records may help explain gaps, but it is not the same as keeping a trip-by-trip log as events occur.

Recording only business trips: A business-use percentage needs a reliable total-kilometre figure as well as business kilometres. If personal trips are not individually logged, record accurate beginning- and end-of-year odometer readings and keep a method for establishing the total. Do not let personal travel disappear from the calculation.

Using vague purposes: “Meeting” or “work” may not explain why the vehicle was used. A concise entry such as “meeting with supplier about materials for project” gives more context without requiring a long narrative.

Confusing a kilometre allowance with a log: A payment calculated per kilometre and a log of actual vehicle use serve different purposes. One does not automatically replace the other; keep the evidence relevant to the type of claim or reimbursement involved.

Forgetting mixed-use trips: If a journey combines personal and business travel, record the route and the business portion accurately. Avoid classifying the entire trip as business when only part of the travel was for work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does CRA provide an official mileage log book template?
There is no single mandatory CRA-branded form that everyone must use. You can use the blank template above or another format, as long as your records clearly support dates, destinations, purposes, distances and annual totals.

What should a CRA mileage log include?
Record the date, destination, reason for the trip and kilometres driven. Odometer readings, a clear business-or-personal classification, and annual opening and closing readings help support the trip distances and business-use calculation.

Can I use a spreadsheet or phone app?
Yes, a digital method can be used if it captures complete, readable records and you can retain and produce them. Back up the data and keep related receipts and supporting documents; a list of destinations without trip dates or distances may not be enough.

Do I need to record personal trips too?
You need reliable evidence of total vehicle kilometres as well as business kilometres. Recording every trip is a straightforward way to establish both; if you do not list each personal trip, keep reliable odometer records and a consistent method for determining the total.

How long should I keep a mileage log?
CRA’s general record-retention period is six years from the end of the tax year the records relate to, with exceptions in some cases. Keep the log with receipts and other supporting records, and check the rule that applies to your particular circumstances.

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