Net or gross mileage? A practical guide for employees

Introduction to mileage

Mileage log is the colloquial term for mileage records, which allows accounting for costs associated with the use of a private car for business purposes. It is used when an employee uses his own vehicle in the course of his professional duties or an entrepreneur uses a private car for business.

Mileage records apply not only to a personal car, but also to motorcycles and mopeds that are not owned by the employer. An employee or entrepreneur who keeps mileage records can account for various expenses related to the operation of a private car. It must be kept and should include at least: mileage data, data on the cost of operating the vehicle, data on the use of the vehicle for business purposes.

Vehicle mileage records

Mileage records for the purposes of deducting 100% VAT and 100% vehicle-related expenses should include:

• vehicle data
• data on the driver of the vehicle
• vehicle mileage data
• route description

Introduced on October 23, 2018, the Personal Income Tax Law abolished the obligation to keep mileage records for income tax purposes. As of January 2019, the obligation to keep mileage for income tax (PIT) purposes by entrepreneurs using private passenger cars in business.

Such a statement will need a date that includes the date on which the mileage records began and the date on which the records ended. The mileage records always have a breakdown of the number of kilometers driven at the end of each billing period of the month or the entire year.

By keeping mileage records, the employer is able to determine the amounts of the monthly lump sum. The amount of reimbursement depends on the engine capacity, the number of business trips in a given month, the rate per km of mileage of a private passenger car.

Rate per km

Rate per km follows from the Ordinance on the conditions for determining and the manner of reimbursing the costs of using for business purposes passenger cars, motorcycles and mopeds not owned by the employer.

The Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure specifies the conditions and methods of reimbursement for the use of various types of vehicle. In 2025, the mileage rates in Poland will remain at the level established in January 2023, in that on January 17, a decree came into force amending the mileage rates, taking into account engine displacement.

This means that employers reimburse employees for the use of private vehicles for business purposes at the following rates per kilometer of vehicle mileage:

• With engine displacement up to 900 cm³: PLN 0.89
• with engine displacement over 900 cm³: PLN 1.15

The enterprise may set higher rates for 1 kilometer of vehicle mileage than those set by law. For each employee employed by the enterprise, the employer may set individual rates for 1 kilometer mileage of cars, motorcycles and mopeds not owned by the employer.

You can find all applicable rates in the record-keeping software. Test the program for free.

Reimbursement for the employee

The employer is obliged to reimburse the employee the amount resulting from multiplying the number of kilometers actually driven by the rate per kilometer. The amount reimbursed to the employee will be a deductible expense for the entrepreneur.

The enterprise may set higher rates per kilometer of vehicle mileage in its internal regulations. Reimbursement shall be made after the employee submits a written statement about his use of the vehicle in a given month.

Income tax

In a situation where a taxpayer has deducted 100% VAT and 100% PIT, and has not kept, in this case, the mandatory mileage records, or has kept them incorrectly, has acted illegally, the legitimacy of such records may be challenged during a possible audit.

A business trip is a trip ordered by an employee away from the locality in which the employer's headquarters is located or away from that employee's permanent place of work. Amounts paid for the use of a private vehicle for business purposes may be subject to income tax.

An expense such as a business trip is not an employee's income and is not subject to taxation and Social Security contributions.

Business

A self-employed person who uses a private passenger car for business purposes does not have to keep mileage records for income tax purposes.

Mileage records must be kept by entrepreneurs who use personal company cars and choose to deduct 100% expenses in the P&L.

The consequence of not keeping mileage records is that only 75% of the costs associated with the operation of company vehicles can be deducted.

In business, you keep records of fixed assets, in which you can include the use of a private vehicle, but it is not necessary. For the purposes of your business, such as for a business trip, expenses for the use of a personal car not entered in the fixed asset register can be included in the tax costs only up to the limit resulting from multiplying the number of kilometers of actual vehicle mileage and the rate per kilometer of mileage.

For the use of cars, motorcycles and various types of vehicles for business purposes, taking into account the engine capacity, the rate per kilometer of mileage, a business person has the opportunity to include these expenses as a tax deductible expense, but the excess of reimbursed expenses cannot be a tax expense.

Keeping records of vehicle mileage

Keeping a mileage log allows you to calculate the costs incurred by an employee based on the kilometers driven.

However, the Road Transport Law establishes a monthly limit on the distance traveled in order to deduct the costs.

The limit may be higher in cases:

• An entrepreneur uses a private car in business.
• An employee uses a personal car for business purposes.

Business purposes

Importance of business purposes in the context of mileage

Business purposes for passenger cars, motorcycles and mopeds not owned by the employer is extremely important in the context of mileage. Mileage records, which are the basis for determining deductible expenses, must include information about the business purposes for which the vehicle was used. Therefore, when determining the amount of the monthly lump sum, it is necessary to take into account the engine capacity, the number of kilometers driven and the rate per kilometer of vehicle mileage.

In the case of a personal car that is used for business purposes, the employer should keep mileage records to determine the deductible cost. These records should include information on the number of kilometers driven, business purposes and engine capacity. The rate per kilometer of vehicle mileage is determined based on the decree of the Minister of Infrastructure and may be higher or lower depending on engine capacity.

Therefore, when accounting for deductible expenses, it is necessary to take into account the amount that exceeds the amount set per kilometer of vehicle mileage to avoid billing errors. In addition, the mileage records should be kept correctly to enable the determination of deductible expenses. If errors are made in record-keeping, this may result in incorrect accounting for deductible expenses, which may have negative tax consequences.

Reimbursement due to business trips

An employee with an employment contract is entitled to reimbursement for the use of vehicles for business purposes if they are not owned by the employer.

Since then, an employee under a contract of employment is entitled to reimbursement for the use of vehicles for business purposes if they are not owned by the employer. When keeping records for the employer, the employee must remember what the mileage record must contain. Such data as the name, engine capacity of the private car and the residential address of the person using it are required to be able to account for business trips against deductible expenses.

An entrepreneur who uses a company car must prove that the car is actually used exclusively for business.

Summary

Records course of the vehicle is the required statement, which, using the adopted rates per kilometer of vehicle mileage, will allow you to calculate the allowance for deductible expenses. Costs arising from the use of a private car for business purposes. On the basis of the mileage records, which will include the number of kilometers driven on a business trip, engine capacity, motor vehicle registration number, taxpayer's signature and all the required information provided earlier in our article, you are able to settle 100% VAT and Income Tax. The amount of reimbursed expenses is determined on the basis of separate regulations issued by the competent minister for both local drives and business trips.