CRA Mileage Logbook Requirements: What You Must Record for Every Trip
The CRA is specific about what a valid mileage logbook must contain. Missing even one required field can invalidate an entire year's vehicle deduction claim.
Sarah Tremblay
CPA, Tax Advisor
A mileage logbook is your primary evidence for vehicle expense claims. The CRA specifies exactly what it must contain — and 'approximately correct' doesn't pass an audit. Here's what every logbook entry needs.
Required Fields for Every Logbook Entry
- Date of the trip
- Starting location (city or address)
- Destination (city or address)
- Purpose of the trip — specific enough to verify it's a business trip
- Kilometres driven for that trip
- Odometer reading at the start and end of the year (to determine total kilometres driven)
What 'Contemporaneous' Means — and Why It Matters
The CRA requires logbooks to be maintained contemporaneously — meaning entries are recorded at or near the time of the trip, not reconstructed later from memory. A logbook filled in at year-end all at once is not considered contemporaneous and will be rejected in an audit. App-based tracking that timestamps entries automatically solves this completely.
The Year-End Summary Your Logbook Must Support
- Total kilometres driven in the year (odometer end − odometer start)
- Total business kilometres (sum of all logged business trips)
- Business-use percentage (business km ÷ total km × 100)
- This percentage then applies to all vehicle expense receipts for the year
ReceiptOne's mileage tracker automatically records start/end locations, timestamps each trip, and calculates your business-use percentage in real time — eliminating the end-of-year scramble to reconstruct your logbook.