Country guide · South Africa

Travel allowance or the 495 c/km reimbursement in South Africa: what can you claim?

By Andrei Zamiralov · Updated 18 Oct 2026

The short answer

If you use your own car for work in South Africa, your employer pays you either a travel allowance or a reimbursement at SARS's per-kilometre rate, and the tax treatment differs.

• A travel allowance. The allowance is taxable except to the extent that it has actually been spent on business travel. You claim the business part on assessment, using SARS's deemed-cost table or your actual costs. You need a logbook.
• A reimbursive allowance at the SARS rate. 495 c/km from 1 March 2026, paid on the business kilometres you drove. It is not taxed only on two conditions, set out below, and then there is nothing to claim back.

Which one applies depends on how your employer pays you. Whenever you claim a travel deduction, you need a logbook, and SARS's minimum is a date, the kilometres and where to and why, plus an odometer reading on 1 March and on the last day of February.

The travel allowance: taxed first, claimed after

A fixed travel allowance is taxable under s. 8(1)(a) of the Income Tax Act except to the extent that it "has actually been expended by that recipient … on travelling on business" (s. 8(1)(a)(i)(aa)). Your employer deducts PAYE from 80 % of the allowance, or from 20 % if it is satisfied that at least 80 % of your use is business (Fourth Schedule para 1(cA)). The rest is settled when you file.

On assessment you claim in one of two ways.

1. The deemed-cost table, s. 8(1)(b)(ii). Nine bands by what the car cost. For 2026/27 the first band has a fixed cost of R38 344, fuel 132.9 c and maintenance 49.1 c, and the top band R237 679, 220.1 c and 126.9 c.
2. Your actual costs. SARS's leaflet: "You will have to have kept an accurate record of all your expenses during the year, including fuel, maintenance, lease and insurance costs."

Either way, SARS's Interpretation Note 14 says "The amount of the allowable deduction is always limited to the amount of the allowance." The burden of proof is yours: the Tax Administration Act 2011, s. 102(1)(b), says the taxpayer "bears the burden of proving … that an amount or item is deductible or may be set off".

The 495 c/km reimbursement: no claim, two conditions

The fixed rate is 495 c/km from 1 March 2026, at the recipient's option. It applies only where "No other compensation in the form of a further allowance or reimbursement (other than for parking or toll fees) is payable".

So the test has two parts: the prescribed rate, and no other compensation. Since 1 March 2018 there is no kilometre limit. SARS's Interpretation Note 14 says "the simplified method now applies to unlimited business kilometres". The 12 000 km limit still quoted in places was removed that year.

A worked example, kept simple. Your employer pays 495 c/km for 100 business kilometres: 100 × 495 c = 49 500 c, which is R495. That amount is not subject to employees' tax. If the employer paid more per kilometre, "the full amount above the prescribed rate is subject to employees' tax".

If the same employer also pays you a travel allowance, the second condition fails. SARS's guide for employers: "both the amounts will be combined on assessment by SARS. These combined allowances will be treated as a taxable travel allowance." You then claim a travel deduction, and that needs the logbook.

So with the reimbursement alone you have nothing to claim afterwards. Add an allowance and you are back in the first section.

What the logbook must contain

SARS's own eLogbook gives the minimum: "The logbook must contain the following minimum information relating to your business travel: • Date of travel • Kilometres travelled • Travel details (where to and reason for the trip)."

Three things to know.

• Two odometer readings a year. "Record your vehicle's odometer reading on 1 March each year … and again on the last day of February … Without these readings, you cannot claim a tax deduction!" The per-trip odometer columns on the form are marked "These fields are not compulsory".
• One logbook per vehicle, if you used more than one in the year. Electronic logbooks are accepted. Private travel need not be detailed, only business travel.
• Five years from submission of your return (Tax Administration Act 2011, s. 29(3)(a)).

The two readings are the part you cannot rebuild later. The longer story is in the 1 March odometer reading.

What happens without one

SARS's 2026/27 eLogbook says: "Without a logbook, you will not be able to claim a travel deduction". The deduction against the travel allowance is what is lost.

Past the claim, the law asks you to keep the records. Section 234(2)(e) of the Tax Administration Act makes it an offence for a person who "wilfully or negligently fails to … retain records as required under a tax Act", "liable, upon conviction, to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding two years."

The R800 000 cap

If you claim actual costs, the car's cost that counts for wear and tear is capped at R800 000 (s. 8(1)(b)(iiiA)). It does not touch the 495 c/km test. The cap was R665 000 until 1 March 2023. The 2026 Draft Rates Bill proposes R920 000 from 1 March 2026, and SARS's ITR12 guide already applies that figure. When this was read, on 10 September 2026, it was not enacted, so R800 000 was still the law. The Rates Act is expected around December 2026.

Who this does not cover

A sole proprietor has no principal, so neither the deemed-cost table nor the fixed rate applies. Your actual expenditure, apportioned, is what is left. A company car is a different rule, a monthly charge with distance entering only as a reduction: see the company car fringe benefit. Meals on a trip with a night away fall under the subsistence allowance.

DriveHub for the logbook

DriveHub is a personal record on your own phone. With location access set to Always, it records every drive in the background, and if it ever misses one, it tells you. It files most trips as Business or Personal by your places, past routes and working hours, and asks you about the rest. The question offers Business, Personal and Commute, so the drive between home and your regular workplace can be answered as Commute.

For a South African, "Year" in a report means 1 March to the last day of February. The two odometer readings print as their own block, headed Odometer, tax year. Reports can be run per vehicle, which is what one logbook per vehicle asks for.

If you are on a travel allowance as an employee, the Travel allowance screen takes the vehicle value, the allowance, and the kilometres for the year. It then shows the deemed-cost deduction from the Gazette table, capped at your allowance. It does not file anything, and it does not compare your actual costs. The 495 c/km rate is built in as the South African rate for 1 March 2026 to 28 February 2027.

DriveHub is on the App Store for iPhone. The South African rules are on the South Africa page. Setting up automatic tracking takes a few minutes, once.

This page states what SARS's eLogbook, the Income Tax Act and the Tax Administration Act say, and names them so you can check. It is not tax advice. It can't account for your circumstances. Where money is involved, ask your tax practitioner, and bring your logbook.

Longer reads

• Without the two annual odometer readings, SARS says you cannot claim at all
• Company car fringe benefit in South Africa: 3.5% a month, and how a logbook reduces it
• Subsistence allowance in South Africa — R595 or R184 a day, and only with a night away