Work From Home & Car Deductions Tracker (ATO 2025-26): Fixed Rate vs Actual, Cents/km vs Logbook

Find out which ATO method gives you the bigger deduction, for working from home and for your car, and which records you still need before you lodge.

Enter your work-from-home hours as you go. The tracker works out your 2025-26 claim under the 70 cents an hour fixed rate method and under the actual cost method, then tells you which is bigger and by how much. Do the same for your car: log your work trips and the tracker compares 88 cents per km (capped at 5,000 km) with the logbook method, using your business-use % from a 12-week logbook. A record-keeping checklist flags anything the ATO expects you to keep for the methods you're claiming. Then print one accountant-ready summary page for your tax agent.

What's inside (Excel)

• Hours Log: one row per day you work from home, with a check that each date falls inside 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026
• WFH Costs: energy (price per kWh × device power × hours), phone and internet work-use %, stationery, cleaning of a dedicated home office, and equipment and furniture (items up to $300 used mainly for work deducted straight away, other items by decline in value)
• WFH Compare: fixed rate vs actual cost side by side, the bigger method, and hours by month
• Car Log: date, reason, destination and odometer readings for each work trip, with an automatic "in logbook period" flag
• Car Costs: fuel and oil (from receipts or estimated from the odometer), registration, insurance, servicing, interest, lease and decline in value, plus a car limit check ($69,674 for 2025-26)
• Car Compare: cents per km vs logbook, the 5,000 km cap, the 12-week minimum and the 5-year logbook life checked for you, and the D1 claim type code (S or B)
• Records Checklist: 17 ATO record requirements plus automatic checks, with Ready / MISSING flags. It also runs the $300 written-evidence test.
• Accountant Summary: one printable page for your tax agent
• Dashboard, Checks tab, Rules & Rates and Notes & Sources (every rule linked to ato.gov.au, checked 23 October 2026)
• Example data included. Clear the yellow cells to start your own.

Rules used (2025-26): fixed rate of 70c per work hour; cents per km rate of 88c, up to 5,000 business km per car; logbook of at least 12 continuous weeks, valid for 5 years; written evidence needed when total work-related claims (excluding car) are more than $300.

Built and checked by a CPA. Every formula tested against a separate calculation.

Works in Microsoft Excel. One car per copy of the workbook. It's for employees: it doesn't cover occupancy costs (rent or mortgage interest), sole-trader home-business claims, or vehicles that aren't cars.

Designed by Plain Numbers Co with the help of AI tools. Listing images are designed previews of the actual file.

30-DAY MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE: if it doesn't work for your situation, message us within 30 days. We'll fix it, or refund you in full if you'd rather. This is in addition to your rights under the Australian Consumer Law, which are not excluded.

General information only, not tax, financial or legal advice. Rates and rules are as published by the ATO for 2025-26. Check your claim with a registered tax agent before lodging.