How to Track Business Mileage for CRA

If you drive for business, you can deduct vehicle expenses on your tax return. But the CRA requires a logbook. Here's what you need to know.

The CRA requires you to track the date, destination, purpose, and distance of every business trip. You also need to record your total kilometres for the year (business and personal) to calculate your business-use percentage.

For 2026, the CRA's prescribed per-kilometre rate is $0.72 for the first 5,000 km and $0.66 after that. You can use the simplified method (per-km rate) or the detailed method (actual expenses × business-use percentage). Most freelancers use the simplified method because it's less paperwork.

What counts as a business trip? Driving to client meetings, job sites, the post office for business mail, or office supply stores. Your daily commute from home to a fixed office does NOT count. But if you work from home (as most freelancers do), most trips are deductible.

norabooks makes this easy. Log each trip with start/end locations and purpose. Set your per-km rate in settings. norabooks calculates the deduction automatically and generates a CRA-compliant mileage report you can hand to your accountant.

Pro tip: Log your trips as they happen, not at year-end. The CRA is more likely to accept a logbook that was kept contemporaneously. norabooks timestamps every entry automatically.