Taxation of company vehicles: flat rate or mileage log
December 16, 2012 | 50,00 EUR | answered by Dr. Yanqiong Bolik
My employer has provided me with a company vehicle for private use. The employer himself has leased the vehicle.
I have my primary residence 610 km away from the workplace and therefore a tax-recognized secondary residence. I make a family trip about every 2 weeks. Distance between the secondary residence and the workplace is 32 km (2-3 times a week, as due to international sales activities the other 2-3 days are usually spent abroad; often also direct travel from the primary residence to the company on Mondays).
Kilometer distribution in 2012:
Total mileage: 45,000 km
Family trips: 25,000 km
Trips between residence and workplace: 5,000 km
Business trips: 14,000 km
Remaining private trips: 1,000 km
Currently, I am taxing the company car flat-rate at 1% and 0.3% for private use. Would it be worth transitioning to a logbook (I have recorded all trips for 2012)? In which "category" do family trips fall? Are they treated tax-wise like business trips or how are they recorded in the logbook (since there are only options for business/private/W/A)?
Thank you.
Dear inquirer,
Thank you for your inquiry, which I am happy to answer taking into account your input and the rules of this platform.
Please note that the information presented is based on the facts provided, and that adding, omitting, changing information or the ambiguity of the information can alter the tax result.
Family trips are not business trips. They are considered for private use.
Switching to the logbook method would be beneficial for you if the monetary benefit according to the logbook method will be lower than that under the 1% rule.
However, a comparison calculation cannot be made based on the data provided. Additional information such as the list price of your company car and the total annual expenses (including depreciation) of this company car are necessary. You can obtain this information from your employer.
According to your information, business trips account for 14/45 of the total mileage and private use accounts for 29/45 of the total mileage. Assuming that the total car costs are 18000 EUR, the monetary benefit under the logbook method would be 29/45*18000=11600 EUR.
If the monetary benefit under the 1% rule is lower, then switching is not advantageous.
I hope I could assist you. If you have any further questions, please feel free to use the follow-up function.
Best regards,
Dr. Yanqiong Bolik
Tax consultant
Bildstöckle 6, 70567 Stuttgart
Tel: +49 (0)711 / 2132 1815
Email: info@zdbz.de
www.steuerberatung.zdbz.de
