How travel allowances are taxed in South Africa. The 80/20 rule, logbooks, and how to claim business travel deductions.
How Travel Allowances Are Taxed
By default, 80% of your travel allowance is included in your taxable income for PAYE. The remaining 20% is treated as business use. If you can prove more than 20% business travel with a logbook, you benefit further.
The Importance of a Logbook
SARS requires a detailed logbook recording the date, opening and closing odometer readings, destination and business purpose of every business trip. Without it, you cannot claim business travel.
Claiming Your Deduction
When you file your return, SARS compares your allowance received to your actual business travel. If you travelled more for business than the 20% assumed, you get a refund.
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Open salary calculator →The 80/20 default, and when it works against you
By default, SARS treats 80% of your travel allowance as taxable, assuming only 20% relates to genuine business travel. This default assumption often does not match reality — many employees with a travel allowance use their vehicle predominantly for business purposes, meaning the 80% default results in significantly overtaxing them relative to their actual business use.
Why the logbook is not optional if you want a fair outcome
Without a properly maintained logbook recording odometer readings, dates, destinations and business purpose for every trip, you have no way to challenge the default 80% assumption at tax filing time. A logbook is the only evidence SARS accepts to recalculate your actual business-use percentage, potentially unlocking a significant refund if your real business travel exceeds the assumed 20%.
What a compliant logbook must include
- Opening and closing odometer readings for the full tax year
- Date of each business trip
- Business purpose for each trip, described specifically enough to be credible
- Kilometres travelled for each recorded trip
- Total private versus business kilometres for the year
The reconciliation at tax filing time
When you submit your annual return, SARS compares the travel allowance you actually received against your logbook-verified business use. If your real business-use percentage exceeds the 80/20 default assumption, you are entitled to a corresponding refund; if it is lower, you may owe additional tax — which is precisely why accurate, contemporaneous record-keeping throughout the year matters more than reconstructing estimates afterward.
Getting the most from your travel allowance
A travel allowance is only tax-efficient if properly documented. Use our salary calculator, which includes a travel allowance field, to see how this affects your monthly PAYE, and keep your logbook current from the very first day of the tax year rather than trying to reconstruct it later.
The 80/20 default, and why it exists
SARS assumes, by default, that 80% of any travel allowance you receive relates to private use and only 20% to genuine business travel — meaning 80% of the allowance is included in your taxable income for monthly PAYE purposes, before any adjustment. This default protects against the allowance being used as an untaxed income supplement disguised as a business expense.
Reducing your effective tax through a logbook
If your actual business travel exceeds the 20% SARS assumes, a detailed, SARS-compliant logbook lets you claim the difference back when you file your annual return — potentially resulting in a meaningful refund. Without a logbook, however, you have no basis to challenge the default 80/20 split, regardless of how much you genuinely drove for work.
What a compliant logbook actually requires
- Date of every business trip, without exception
- Opening and closing odometer readings for each trip, or at minimum for the tax year
- Destination and clear business purpose for each trip
- Total kilometres travelled, both business and total for the year
The claim calculation once you have logbook evidence
SARS provides a cost-per-kilometre table, updated periodically, used to calculate your allowable deduction based on your vehicle's value and the actual business kilometres logged. This calculated deduction is then compared against what was already taxed monthly under the 80/20 default, with any excess refunded.
A frequently missed detail: fixed versus reimbursive allowances
A fixed monthly travel allowance is taxed under the 80/20 rule described above. A reimbursive allowance — where you are paid a rate per kilometre actually travelled for business, with no fixed monthly amount — is taxed differently and can be entirely tax-free up to the official SARS rate per kilometre, provided proper records are kept.
Getting your full entitlement
A travel allowance with poor record-keeping is money left on the table. Keep your logbook current throughout the year rather than reconstructing it at tax time, and see our eFiling guide for how to submit this claim correctly when filing your return.
The mechanics of the 80/20 default split
When your employer pays a fixed travel allowance, SARS assumes by default that 80% of that allowance is for private (personal) travel and only 20% is genuinely business-related. This means 80% of the allowance is subject to PAYE immediately, month by month, regardless of how you actually use the vehicle — the remaining 20% is treated as a business expense and excluded from immediate tax.
Why the logbook is not optional if you drive mostly for work
If your actual business travel exceeds the assumed 20%, you are entitled to claim a larger deduction — but only with a compliant logbook as evidence. Without one, you have no basis to challenge the default 80/20 split, and you effectively overpay tax on an allowance that may have been almost entirely business-related in reality.
What a SARS-compliant logbook actually requires
- Opening and closing odometer readings for the full tax year
- Date of every business trip
- Business purpose for each trip — a client visit, site inspection, or similar
- Kilometres travelled for each specific trip
- Total business kilometres versus total kilometres for the year
How the year-end reconciliation works
At tax filing time, SARS compares the actual business-use percentage shown in your logbook against what was assumed and taxed monthly through the 80/20 split. If your real business use was higher than 20%, you receive a refund reflecting the difference. If it was lower, you may owe additional tax — which is why an honest, contemporaneous logbook protects you in both directions, not just when it is favourable.
Common logbook mistakes that trigger SARS scrutiny
Reconstructing a logbook retroactively from memory near tax season, rather than maintaining it trip by trip throughout the year, is one of the most common reasons SARS queries a travel claim. Digital logbook apps that timestamp entries in real time provide stronger evidence than a paper logbook completed in a single sitting months later.
Calculating what this means for your take-home
Understanding your travel allowance treatment is one part of your overall tax picture. Use our salary calculator, which includes a travel allowance field, to see how this specific deduction affects your monthly take-home pay.