Latest update: 14 October 2026 - 5 min read

Is Your Vehicle Logbook App Tax Deductible?

Is your logbook app tax deductible?

Short answer: usually yes. If you pay for a logbook app and you use it for work, it’s deductible like any other work tool. The detail depends on how you work, who pays for it, and whether you’ve got deductible driving to track in the first place.

This is one of those costs people forget to claim. A logbook app is often the thing that unlocks a much bigger deduction, the vehicle expenses themselves, and then the app’s own subscription quietly never makes it onto the return.

Eligibility for deduction, based on your situation

Your situation	Can you claim the app?	Under what
Sole trader or partnership	Yes	Operating expenses
Company or trust	Yes	Operating expenses
Employee paying for it yourself	Yes	Work-related tools, plus cost of managing tax affairs
Employer or business supplies it	No	You didn’t pay for it
No work-related driving	No	Nothing to track

If you run a business, it’s an operating expense

Sole traders, partnerships, companies and trusts all land in the same place. The ATO lists subscription fees for off-the-shelf software directly among deductible operating expenses, alongside things like internet charges and cloud storage.

A logbook app subscription you use to run and substantiate the business sits squarely in that category. There’s no special rule for it, and no threshold you need to clear first.

The only condition worth remembering is apportionment. The ATO is explicit that you can only claim the business portion of an expense that serves both business and private purposes. If you’re using the app to record family trips alongside client visits, that split applies to the subscription too.

If you’re a sole trader, it’s worth reading this alongside the other deductions available to sole traders, since software is rarely the only one people miss.

If you’re an employee, you can claim what you paid for

Employees can claim tools, computers and items you use for work, and software counts. Three things have to hold:

You paid for it yourself
Your employer didn’t reimburse you
You use it for work

Miss any one of those and the claim falls over. The most common failure isn’t the third one, it’s the second. If your employer covers the subscription, or pays you back for it, there’s nothing left for you to deduct.

As with a business, you apportion out private use. If you track every drive you make and only a third of them are work, you claim a third.

Does the cost of managing your tax affairs cover it?

Partly, and it’s worth knowing because it’s a separate category with its own rules.

The ATO lets you claim the cost of managing your tax affairs, which includes tax agent fees, tax reference material, and software that helps you prepare and lodge your return. Where your logbook app produces the report that goes into your return, that part of what it does falls under this heading.

You don’t claim the same dollar twice. The point is that an employee with a logbook app has two sensible places to put it, and neither one is exotic or aggressive.

How much can you actually claim on logbook app expenses?

Whatever you paid, multiplied by the share of use that’s for work.

Example

Say the subscription costs $100 for the year and you use the app for work 80% of the time. You claim $80. That’s the whole calculation.

Note: Two things people sometimes get wrong here. The first is claiming the full amount when the app is also tracking private trips, which it almost always is. The second is assuming the app is covered by the cents per kilometre rate. It isn’t. The cents per kilometre rate absorbs the running costs of the car itself, fuel, servicing, insurance, depreciation and the rest. A software subscription is a separate expense, claimed separately, whichever vehicle method you use.

What records do you need?

Less than you’d think, but you do need them.

The receipt or tax invoice, in your own name if you’re claiming it personally.
Something showing how you worked out the work-use percentage.
Both kept for five years after you lodge.

If you’re also claiming vehicle expenses, the app itself usually solves the harder record-keeping problem, since the ATO’s logbook requirements are considerably more demanding than keeping one receipt. Driversnote works out that split for you — every trip is logged and classified as business or private, and the report gives you the work-use percentage rather than leaving you to reconstruct it at tax time.

Worth knowing what you can and can’t claim without receipts if your paperwork has gaps.

What if you can’t claim vehicle expenses at all?

You might still need to track, and this catches people out.

If you drive a company car, the running costs aren’t your deduction, and the app usually isn’t either. But your employer may need a logbook to work out the fringe benefits tax on that car, and that record has to come from somewhere. The reason to track is real, it just isn’t a deduction on your return.

The same goes if your employer reimburses you per kilometre. You can’t claim what you’ve been paid back for, but you still need the kilometres recorded to justify the reimbursement.

What else can you claim?

The app is usually the smallest part of the claim. The vehicle expenses underneath it are where the money is, and the rules there change sharply depending on how you work and what you drive.

Companies and trusts can’t use the cents per kilometre method at all. A one-tonne ute isn’t a car under ATO rules. Driving in because you were called in off standby isn’t claimable, even at 3am. None of that is obvious until it costs you.

Next: What vehicle expenses can you claim? — answer a few questions and find out which ATO method applies to you, which of your trips count, and exactly which costs go on your return.

FAQ

Is a logbook app deductible?

Yes, in almost every situation where you pay for it yourself and use it for work. If you run a business it’s an operating expense. If you’re an employee it’s a work-related tool, and partly a cost of managing your tax affairs. You claim the work-use portion rather than the full amount, and you claim it separately from your vehicle expenses, since no per-kilometre rate covers it. There are only two situations where the answer is no: your employer or business supplies the app, or you have no work-related driving to track in the first place.

Can I claim a logbook app if I’m an employee with no ABN?

Yes, as long as you paid for it, weren’t reimbursed, and use it for work. You don’t need an ABN or a business to claim work-related expenses. What you do need is work-related driving — a second workplace, client visits, a day moving between sites. If all your driving is home to one regular workplace, none of it is deductible, and neither is the tool you used to record it.

Is the app covered by the 5,000 kilometre cap?

No. The 5,000 kilometre cap applies to the cents per kilometre method for your car. A software subscription isn’t a car expense and isn’t capped by it. If you’re near that cap, it’s usually a sign you should be comparing the logbook method against cents per kilometre anyway.

What if I bought a year upfront?

You claim it in the income year you paid for it. For most people paying for a subscription that’s straightforward — the payment date is the claim date.

Does it matter which app I use?

Not for deductibility. It matters for whether your underlying vehicle claim holds up. The ATO’s logbook rules are specific about what a logbook must contain and how long it stays valid, so it’s worth checking that whatever you use produces a record that meets them. Here’s what to look for in an ATO-compliant logbook app.

General information based on published ATO guidance, not tax advice. Rates and thresholds change each income year — check your own circumstances with a registered tax agent.

FAQ

Yes, in almost every situation where you pay for it yourself and use it for work. If you run a business it's an operating expense. If you're an employee it's a work-related tool, and partly a cost of managing your tax affairs. You claim the work-use portion rather than the full amount, and you claim it separately from your vehicle expenses, since no per-kilometre rate covers it. There are only two situations where the answer is no: your employer or business supplies the app, or you have no work-related driving to track in the first place.

Yes, as long as you paid for it, weren't reimbursed, and use it for work. You don't need an ABN or a business to claim work-related expenses. What you do need is work-related driving — a second workplace, client visits, a day moving between sites. If all your driving is home to one regular workplace, none of it is deductible, and neither is the tool you used to record it.

No. The 5,000 kilometre cap applies to the cents per kilometre method for your car. A software subscription isn't a car expense and isn't capped by it. If you're near that cap, it's usually a sign you should be comparing the logbook method against cents per kilometre anyway.

You claim it in the income year you paid for it. For most people paying for a subscription that's straightforward — the payment date is the claim date.

Not for deductibility. It matters for whether your underlying vehicle claim holds up. The ATO's logbook rules are specific about what a logbook must contain and how long it stays valid, so it's worth checking that whatever you use produces a record that meets them.