Cents Per Km Calculator
Multiply your work kilometres by 88 cents for 2025-26, or 91 cents for 2026-27, up to 5,000 km per car. That caps the claim at $4,400 for 2025-26 and $4,550 for 2026-27. The rate already covers fuel, rego, insurance, servicing and depreciation, so nothing goes on top.
| 2025-26 | Amount |
|---|---|
| Car expense deduction | $3,643 |
| Tax and Medicare it saves on its own | $1,166 |
Resident claiming the tax-free threshold. A deduction lowers the tax you owe, so the refund rises by the saving, not by the deduction. See the whole return in the tax refund calculator.
Cents per km rates by year: 88c and 91c
The rate for the return most people are lodging now, 2025-26, is 88 cents per km. Returns you lodge yourself are due by Monday 2 November 2026. The 2026-27 rate is 91 cents, set by the Commissioner's 2026 determination (F2026L00785) for that year only. Its explanatory statement breaks it into a base rate of 89 cents plus a one-off 2 cent uplift for a fuel price shock.
| Income year | Cents per km | Most you can claim per car |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | 91c | $4,550 |
| 2024-25 and 2025-26 | 88c | $4,400 |
| 2023-24 | 85c | $4,250 |
| 2022-23 | 78c | $3,900 |
| 2020-21 and 2021-22 | 72c | $3,600 |
Rates from the ATO cents per kilometre method page (QC107246). The 91c rate does not carry into 2027-28: a new determination is needed for that year.
How to calculate cents per km
Work kilometres for the year x the rate for that year = your car expense deduction.
The ATO's own 2025-26 example is Johan. He made 46 trips of 27 km (1,242 km) and 12 trips of 106 km (1,272 km), a total of 2,514 km. At 88 cents that is $2,212. The same distance in 2026-27, at 91 cents, is $2,287.
You can estimate the kilometres, as long as the estimate is reasonable and you can show how you got it. The ATO's example: a 20 km work round trip once a week for 48 weeks is 960 km. The calculator above works the same way, from your round trip, trips a week and weeks worked.
How the 5,000 km cap works
You can claim the first 5,000 km of work travel in a car each year and must discard the rest. The law (section 28-25(2) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997) gives its own example: a car that travelled 5,085 km claims 5,000 km and loses the extra 85.
- The cap is per car. Two cars used for work can each claim up to 5,000 km, and you can use a different method for each car.
- If you and another joint owner use the car for separate income-producing purposes, you can each claim up to 5,000 km.
- You can change method from one income year to the next for the same car.
What the rate covers, and who can use it
The rate covers all your car expenses: decline in value, registration, insurance, maintenance, repairs and fuel. You cannot add any of these, or any other car expense, on top.
It is for a car you own or lease. The ATO defines a car as a motor vehicle carrying a load of less than one tonne and fewer than 9 passengers including the driver. Electric cars, plug-in hybrids and hybrids count; motorcycles do not. A car under a salary sacrifice or novated lease arrangement does not count as owned or leased by you, so it is outside this method. See the novated lease tax calculator for how those are taxed.
Which trips count
Work kilometres are those travelled in the course of earning your assessable income, or travelling between workplaces. Trips between home and your usual place of work do not count, except in limited circumstances.
Records: no receipts, but a record of how you got the kilometres
For 2024-25 and 2025-26 the ATO sets out three points:
- you don't need receipts for your car expenses;
- you do need a record that shows how you worked out your work kilometres, such as a diary or the myDeductions tool in the ATO app;
- you need to be able to show that you own the car.
Section 28-35 of the Act backs the first point: under this method you do not need to substantiate the car expenses themselves.
Cents per km or logbook?
The cents per km method is a flat rate per kilometre with a cap. The logbook method works from what the car actually cost you. Here is the difference in plain terms, from the two ATO method pages. You can use a different method for each car, and change method for the same car in a later year.
| Cents per km | Logbook | |
|---|---|---|
| How the claim is worked out | Work km x the ATO rate | From your actual car costs |
| Limit | 5,000 km a car, the rest discarded | Not subject to the 5,000 km cap |
| Running costs on top | None, the rate covers them | Receipts, or a reasonable fuel estimate from odometer readings |
| Records | How you worked out the km, proof you own the car (2024-25 and 2025-26) | A logbook covering at least 12 continuous weeks, valid for 5 years |
What the deduction saves in tax
A deduction lowers your taxable income, so it returns your marginal rate plus the Medicare levy, not the whole amount. Johan's $2,212 on an $85,000 income saves $708 in 2025-26. With a HELP debt it saves $1,040, because the lower income also cuts the compulsory repayment. Your refund rises by the saving, since PAYG withheld stays the same and only the tax owed falls. Run the whole return in the tax refund calculator, or check your pay in the PAYG calculator.
Here is a full 5,000 km claim at different incomes:
| Taxable income | 2025-26: $4,400 saves | 2026-27: $4,550 saves | 2026-27: extra over the $1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| $45,000 | $1,012 | $1,001 | $781 |
| $60,000 | $1,474 | $1,524 | $1,189 |
| $85,000 | $1,408 | $1,456 | $1,136 |
| $120,000 | $1,408 | $1,456 | $1,136 |
| $150,000 | $1,716 | $1,775 | $1,385 |
| $200,000 | $2,068 | $2,139 | $1,669 |
Resident claiming the tax-free threshold, no HELP debt, car as the only work expense. Computed with the same engine as the calculator. For the repayment side, see the HECS repayment calculator.
2026-27: the $1,000 standard deduction
From the 2026-27 return, anyone with labour income gets a standard deduction of $1,000 (or their labour income, if lower) applied automatically. It does not apply to 2025-26 returns. Car expenses claimed under Division 28, which includes cents per km, reduce it dollar for dollar, so a car claim is only worth what it adds above $1,000. The rules are set out in our $1,000 standard deduction explainer.
- Break-even: at 91 cents, a car-only claim needs 1,099 km to beat the standard deduction. 1,098 km gives $999.
- Johan's 2,514 km at 91c is $2,287. On $85,000 it saves $732 in total, but only $412 more than taking the $1,000.
- A full 5,000 km at 91c, $4,550, saves $1,456 on $85,000, or $1,136 more than the standard deduction.
Other work expenses such as working from home also reduce the standard deduction, so enter them in the calculator when you choose 2026-27.
If your employer pays you per km
A car allowance from your employer is assessable income, so it goes in your tax return. For withholding, the ATO treats a cents per km allowance in three ways:
- paid at the ATO rate or less, on up to 5,000 km of business travel: no tax withheld;
- paid for kilometres past 5,000 km: tax withheld from the excess;
- paid above the ATO rate: tax withheld from the amount over the rate.
A car allowance for travel between home and work is different: the whole allowance goes in gross pay and is taxed with your wages. The PAYG withholding calculator shows what comes out of each pay.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate cents per km?
What is the ATO cents per kilometre rate for 2024-25 and 2025-26?
Can you claim 5,000 km without proof?
How much should my employer pay me per km?
Can I claim the $1,000 standard deduction on my 2025-26 return?
Can I add fuel or servicing on top of the cents per km rate?
Sources
Each source below was retrieved on 8 October 2026 and returned a live page.
- Income Tax Assessment (Cents per Kilometre Deduction Rate for Car Expenses) Determination 2026 (F2026L00785, made 22 June 2026) and its explanatory statement. 91 cents for 2026-27, the 89 cent base and the 2 cent uplift.
- Income Tax Assessment (Cents per Kilometre Deduction Rate for Car Expenses) Determination 2024 (F2024L00697). 88 cents for income years from 1 July 2024, in force to 30 June 2026.
- Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 section 28-25 and section 28-35. The formula, the 5,000 km cap with the 5,085 km example, business kilometres, and no substantiation under this method.
- ATO: Cents per kilometre method (QC107246, last updated 12 August 2026). Rates by year, what the rate covers, the cap, records, and the Johan example.
- ATO: Expenses for a car you own or lease (QC72124, last updated 4 May 2026). What counts as a car, novated leases, home to work trips, allowances and one method per car. The ATO Logbook method page (QC107247, last updated 12 June 2026) is linked from it.
- ATO: Withholding for allowances (QC51680, last updated 26 August 2026). Withholding on cents per km car allowances.
- ATO: Standard deduction for work-related expenses (QC107752, last updated 14 September 2026), and Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026 (Act No. 49 of 2026), new section 25-130. The $1,000 from 2026-27 and the dollar for dollar reduction.