Do I enter the details of my motor vehicle expense for the year or for that period for which I drove my car to earn employment?

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If you use your motor vehicle for both personal and employment use, you can only claim a portion of its cost as an employment expense. For example, if you use your vehicle 30% for your employment use in 2020, you can deduct 30% of motor vehicle expenses in your tax return.

You deduct the percentage of your motor vehicle expenses that relate to your work. You need to keep a logbook of the mileage you drove to earn income and the total mileage you drove in the tax year for both work and personal use.

For example;

If you drove your vehicle for 25000 km to earn income, while the odometer shows that you drove the car for 40000 km in total in the last year; your work percentage = 25000/ 40000 = 62.5%. This means you can claim 62.5% of the total expenses including any CCA.

Not all expenses have to be prorated. Although general repairs and maintenance have to be prorated, repairs related to an accident while you were working can be fully deducted.

Please visit our TurboTax article on Employment Expenses: What Motor Vehicle Expenses Can You Claim? to learn more about motor vehicle expenses.