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Cents per km 2026-27: 91c ATO Rate and Calculator

The ATO cents per kilometre rate is 91c for 2026-27, up from 88c in 2024-25 and 2025-26. You can claim up to 5,000 work-related kilometres per car, so the most you can deduct is $4,550. The rate covers every car cost, and you need a record of your kilometres but no receipts. A car allowance your employer pays at or below the rate, for up to 5,000 km, has no tax withheld.

Official ATO ratesUpdated FY2026-27Free foreverNo signup required

Rate 2026-27

91c

88c in 2024-25 and 2025-26

Kilometre cap

5,000

Work km per car, per year

Maximum claim

$4,550

5,000 km × 91c

Receipts

None

Keep a record of your km

Cents per Kilometre Calculator

Your car expense deduction at the ATO rate, and, if your employer pays a car allowance per km, how much of it is paid tax-free and how much is withheld from.

Per car. Home to work doesn't count as work travel.

Leave at 0 if you don't get one.

Kilometres you can claim (max 5,000)
3,000
ATO rate
91c per km
Cents per km deduction
$2,730.00

The rate covers all car costs — fuel, registration, insurance, repairs and depreciation — so nothing is added on top. You need a record of how you worked out your kilometres, but no receipts.

A woman with a work bag steps out of the driver's door of a silver hatchback beside a wheat field

ATO Cents per km Rates by Year

Income yearRate per kmMaximum (5,000 km)
2026-27 (current)91c$4,550
2025-2688c$4,400
2024-2588c$4,400
2023-2485c$4,250
2022-2378c$3,900
2021-2272c$3,600
2020-2172c$3,600

ATO, cents per kilometre method, last updated 12 August 2026, read 23 September 2026. Use the rate for the year you travelled.

How to Work Out Your Claim

  1. Count your work-related kilometres: trips in the course of your job, such as between workplaces or to clients. Ordinary home-to-work trips don’t count.
  2. Make a reasonable estimate if you haven’t logged every trip. The ATO’s example: a 20 km round trip once a week for 48 weeks is 960 km.
  3. Cap it at 5,000 km per car. Joint owners using the car for separate work can each claim up to 5,000 km.
  4. Multiply by the rate: 960 km × 91c = $873.60.

You must own or lease the car, and you can’t add fuel, rego, insurance or repairs on top: the rate already covers them. Driving more than 5,000 km for work? The logbook method isn’t capped at that, but needs a logbook and records of your car expenses. See the tax deductions guide or estimate your refund with the tax return calculator.

Car Allowance on Your Payslip: Is It Taxed?

Many employers pay a per-km car allowance. How much tax is withheld depends on the rate and the kilometres (ATO withholding for allowances, Table 2):

Car allowance paid for work travelTax withheld?
At or below the ATO rate, up to 5,000 kmNo
At the ATO rate, for km beyond 5,000Yes, from the payment for the km over 5,000
Above the ATO rate, up to 5,000 kmYes, from the part above the ATO rate
For home-to-work travel (any rate)Yes, it's added to gross pay like wages

In each work-travel case the whole allowance is shown separately in the allowance box of your income statement. It is income either way.

Example: 2,000 km at $1.00 a km is a $2,000 allowance. $1,820 (2,000 × 91c) is paid without withholding and tax is withheld from the other $180.

Award Vehicle Allowances per km

Some awards set a per-km vehicle allowance. Where it’s above 91c, the part above the ATO rate has tax withheld (for work travel, up to 5,000 km).

AwardAllowanceRateClause
Fast Food AwardOwn vehicle — engaged primarily to deliver the employer's products$0.53/kmcl 17.8(a)
Fast Food AwardOwn vehicle — any other case$1.00/kmcl 17.8(b)
Pharmacy AwardMotor vehicle allowance$1.01/kmcl 19.7
Manufacturing AwardVehicle allowance (own vehicle, by agreement)$1.00/kmcl 30.3(a)
Security AwardVehicle allowance — motor vehicle$1.00/kmcl 17.9(b)(i)
Security AwardVehicle allowance — motor cycle$0.34/kmcl 17.9(b)(ii)
Clerks AwardVehicle allowance — motor car (Payable up to 400 km a week (cl 19.6(b)).)$1.00/kmcl 19.6(a)(i)
Clerks AwardVehicle allowance — motor cycle$0.34/kmcl 19.6(a)(ii)
Nurses AwardMotor vehicle allowance (own vehicle)$1.01/kmcl 17.3(c)(i)
Aged Care AwardVehicle allowance — 1 September 2026 to 28 February 2027 (Temporary rate. From 1 March 2027 it reverts to $1.01 per km (cl 15.7(a)).)$1.05/kmcl 15.7(aa)
Hair and Beauty AwardMotor vehicle allowance$1.00/kmcl 20.6
Cleaning AwardVehicle allowance — motor car ($0.34 per km for a motorcycle (cl 17.11(b)).)$1.01/kmcl 17.11(a)
Miscellaneous AwardVehicle allowance$1.00/kmcl 17.3(c)
Legal Services AwardVehicle allowance — motor car$1.00/kmcl 18.4(a)(i)
Legal Services AwardVehicle allowance — motorcycle$0.34/kmcl 18.4(a)(ii)
Electrical AwardMotor vehicle allowance$1.00/kmcl 18.6(b)
Fitness Industry AwardVehicle allowance — own motor vehicle$1.00/kmcl 17.3(b)(i)
Fitness Industry AwardVehicle allowance — own motorcycle$0.33/kmcl 17.3(b)(ii)
Real Estate AwardVehicle allowance (alternative to standing charges) (To a maximum of 400 km a week.)$1.00/kmcl 17.3(a)
Real Estate AwardMotor cycle allowance (To a maximum of 400 km a week.)$0.34/kmcl 17.5(a)
Local Government AwardVehicle allowance — motor vehicle$1.00/kmcl 19.3(c)(i)
Plumbing AwardTransfer between job sites — own vehicle$1.00/kmcl 21.9(e)(ii)
Plumbing AwardMileage beyond the defined radius (50 km) — own vehicle (Varied on 16 September 2026 (PR814392, corrected by PR814410): the clause now cross-refers to the travelling time allowance in cl 21.9(d). The rate stayed $0.55.)$0.55/kmcl 21.9(f)
Health Professionals AwardOwn motor vehicle (at least)$1.01/kmcl 23.3(h)(i)
Timber AwardVehicle allowance$1.00/kmcl 23.2(a)
Commercial Sales AwardOwn motor car$1.00/kmcl 17.2(c)(i)
Commercial Sales AwardOwn motorcycle$0.34/kmcl 17.2(c)(ii)

Current award rates as published on our award pages, transcribed from each award's text; any note in brackets says when a rate changes.

Award transport payments change on 1 October 2026. Transport allowances paid under an industrial instrument that was in force on 29 October 1986 used to have withholding varied to nil. A 2026 law change repealed those rules, so from 1 October 2026 employers must withhold from them (ATO). The cents per km rules in the table above are unchanged.

Related Calculators and Guides

Frequently Asked Questions

Cents per kilometre questions and answers

What is the ATO cents per km rate for 2026-27?

91 cents per kilometre from 1 July 2026, up from 88 cents in 2024-25 and 2025-26. You can claim up to 5,000 work-related kilometres per car, a maximum deduction of $4,550.

What rate do I use for my 2025-26 tax return?

88 cents per kilometre. The 91 cents rate applies to kilometres travelled in the 2026-27 income year, which you claim in the return you lodge after 30 June 2027.

Is a car allowance taxed?

A cents per km car allowance for work travel, paid at or below the ATO rate for up to 5,000 km, has no tax withheld but is still income you declare. Tax is withheld from any part paid above the ATO rate or for kilometres beyond 5,000. An allowance for home-to-work travel is taxed like wages.

Do I need receipts for cents per km?

No. You need to show how you worked out your work-related kilometres, for example a diary or the myDeductions tool in the ATO app, and that you own or lease the car.

Can I claim fuel on top of cents per km?

No. The rate covers all running costs, including fuel, registration, insurance, maintenance, repairs and depreciation. Nothing else can be added for the same car.

Can I claim cents per km if my employer pays me a car allowance?

Yes, if the travel is work travel. Declare the allowance as income, then claim your car expenses for those kilometres with the cents per km or logbook method.

91 cents per kilometre from 1 July 2026, up from 88 cents in 2024-25 and 2025-26. You can claim up to 5,000 work-related kilometres per car, a maximum deduction of $4,550.

88 cents per kilometre. The 91 cents rate applies to kilometres travelled in the 2026-27 income year, which you claim in the return you lodge after 30 June 2027.

A cents per km car allowance for work travel, paid at or below the ATO rate for up to 5,000 km, has no tax withheld but is still income you declare. Tax is withheld from any part paid above the ATO rate or for kilometres beyond 5,000. An allowance for home-to-work travel is taxed like wages.

No. You need to show how you worked out your work-related kilometres, for example a diary or the myDeductions tool in the ATO app, and that you own or lease the car.

No. The rate covers all running costs, including fuel, registration, insurance, maintenance, repairs and depreciation. Nothing else can be added for the same car.

Yes, if the travel is work travel. Declare the allowance as income, then claim your car expenses for those kilometres with the cents per km or logbook method.
How we worked this out▼

Deduction = min(work km, 5,000) × the ATO rate for the income year. For a car allowance, the part paid at or below the ATO rate for up to 5,000 km is free of withholding; the part above the rate, and payments for km beyond 5,000, are withheld from; a home-to-work allowance is withheld from in full. This follows the ATO’s Table 1 and Table 2 for allowances.

General information, not tax advice.

Sources & References

  1. 1
    Cents per kilometre method (QC107246)— Australian Taxation Office
  2. 2
  3. 3
    Changes to award transport payments (QC66099)— Australian Taxation Office
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
    Nurses Award 2020 (MA000034), cl 17— Fair Work Commission
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22

Last verified: 23 September 2026. Our content is based on the latest information from official Australian government sources.

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