CAR EXPENSES FOR A CAR JOINTLY OWNED BY TWO PERSONS

Question : If the car is owned by 2 persons then how can they claim car expenses?

Answer:

Practice Statement Law Administration PS LA 1999/2

They can use one of the two calculation methods for income years from 1 July 2015:

· cents per kilometre

· log book.

Each taxpayer should use only one method in any one income year in relation to a specific vehicle. However, each of the joint owners can use a different method to calculate their deductions if they wish.

Cents per KM:

Each joint owner or joint lessee can claim a maximum deduction of 5,000 kilometres for each income year. That limit applies to a taxpayer in relation to a particular car, not to the car itself; so, if each of the joint owners uses the car for separate income producing purposes, they can each claim up to 5,000 kilometres.

Logbook method:

If one of them is using the logbook method, the logbook must be prepared to show total KMs travelled by both the owners and the KMs travelled by the person, to produce assessable income, who is using the logbook method.  then he must use the following formula:

(Total km the taxpayer travelled to produce their assessable income divided by the total number of kilometres the car travelled) multiplied by (the total car expenses incurred plus the car's total depreciation for the period).