A company gas station must also document the fuel costs precisely so that employees can pay tax on their company car based on a logbook.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin Anyone who is allowed to drive their company car not only for business but also privately is in a comfortable situation, especially in times of high purchase prices and operating costs. The fact that a pecuniary advantage is taxable for private use does not change this.
When choosing the right taxation method for this, the rule of thumb can usually be applied: If the share of private use is high, taxation according to the one percent rule is more worthwhile. If, on the other hand, professional use predominates, you save money with the logbook method. However, anyone who decides to use the logbook should know that the requirements for this are high.
Cases have been reported in the past in which the users’ recordings were classified as “incorrect”. However, after an external wage tax audit, one company found out that the challenge can also lurk elsewhere. The examiners finally complained that the GmbH had estimated the fuel costs of the cars based on average values.
This had become necessary because the vehicles had been refueled at the company’s own filling station. However, there was neither a display of the sales quantity nor the sales price.
The responsible tax office considered the estimate to be inadmissible and therefore ruled out the use of the logbook method. Instead, it subsequently determined the pecuniary benefit of private use using the one percent rule and used the GmbH with a notice of liability to make the payment. In the subsequent lawsuit, however, the Munich Finance Court considered the use of a logbook to be fundamentally permissible.
However, the judges recalculated the pecuniary benefit. Unlike the company, they did not use an estimate for this, but relied on the average inner-city consumption specified by the vehicle manufacturer and the average purchase price per liter of fuel, as verified by purchase invoices for the company filling station.
Documents are mandatory
However, the Federal Fiscal Court subsequently assessed the case differently and rejected the appeal (Az. VI R 44/20). According to the judges there, an estimate of costs that are not documented on the basis of documents for company cars that are also available for private use excludes the use of the logbook method.
When making their decision, they refer to the wording of the law. There two requirements are mentioned that a proper logbook has to fulfill. On the one hand, this is the complete documentation of all routes. On the other hand, the receipt of the entire vehicle costs is required.
In accordance with the legal requirements, a partial estimate is also excluded. This applies even if a “safety surcharge” is taken into account and the costs taken into account are therefore higher than those actually incurred.
>> Read here: How employers can save on sales tax on company cars
In its justification, the Federal Fiscal Court also emphasizes that it is generally possible and reasonable for taxpayers to obtain receipts and evidence for the costs they have incurred. There is therefore no preference for the one percent rule.
Practical tip: How to properly keep a logbook
Anyone who uses a company car and wants to use the logbook to determine their pecuniary benefit must be very careful in their records. Above all, this means that you should enter your journeys there promptly – preferably immediately after they have ended. This is the only way to ensure that the mileage is read correctly and that no trip is forgotten.
It is also important that all journeys are noted without gaps. The tax office does not accept bundled entries, for example from private trips at the weekend. Rather, the logbook would be immediately ineffective in such a case.
In addition to the date and mileage before and after the trip, the entry must contain the location before the trip, the destination and the route. The name of the business partner visited and the purpose of the trip should also be mentioned, and the content of the appointment should also be roughly informed. For private trips, on the other hand, it is sufficient to mark it as “private”.
In addition, the logbook must be in closed form. Loose-leaf collections will not be accepted. Electronic logbooks must be tamper-proof. The use of spreadsheet programs is therefore not permitted.
More: Taxation of company cars – for whom the logbook is worthwhile and how to use the one percent method optimally