If you drive for work, the kilometres add up faster than you think. Here is how the two claim methods work, what the current rates are, and which trips the ATO will actually accept.
Checked against ATO guidance, July 2026. 88¢ per km on the 2025–26 return you lodge now; 91¢ per km for trips from 1 July 2026; 5,000 km yearly cap per car on the cents per km method.
One rate covers everything: fuel, rego, insurance, servicing and the car losing value. You claim up to 5,000 work kilometres per car each year. On the 2025–26 return that is a maximum of $4,400, and the rate rises to 91 cents for the year that started 1 July 2026.
No receipts are needed, but you must be able to show how you worked out the kilometres. A diary of work trips does the job. “About 4,000, probably” does not.
Drive a lot for work? The logbook method usually pays more. You keep a logbook for 12 continuous weeks to establish your work use percentage, and it stays valid for up to five years. Then you claim that percentage of every car cost: fuel, insurance, servicing, depreciation, the lot. Receipts required for all of it.
Cents per km: up to 5,000 work km per car; no receipts, just a record of trips; one rate covers everything; best for occasional work driving. Logbook: no cap on kilometres; receipts for every cost; claim your work % of actual costs; best for heavy work driving.
Driving between job sites, from one job to a second job, out to clients, or carrying bulky tools because there is no secure storage at work: all claimable. The regular commute from home to your normal workplace is not, no matter how long it is.
Where Nomo fits: Nomo tracks your drives automatically at the cents per km rate, and you sort them with a swipe.
General information only, not tax advice. Rules change and everyone’s situation is different, so check ato.gov.au or talk to a registered tax agent before you lodge. Nomo is a record keeping tool and does not lodge returns.