No law says you have to keep a mileage log. But every time you deduct for the car, pay out a mileage allowance or avoid benefit taxation, it is up to you to show the trip was for business, and the mileage log is what the Swedish Tax Agency recommends. The guide covers what applies to sole traders, partnerships and limited companies.
No, not by law. But the tax rules assume you can show how the car was used, and the Swedish Tax Agency says a mileage log is a good way to do that.
The Supreme Administrative Court, then called Regeringsrätten, has said the same. Anyone who has the right to use a car privately is assumed to do so, the burden of proof is reversed, and the most obvious way to show otherwise is a carefully kept mileage log. It can be shown in other ways, but it is hard.
This applies whatever the company form. The differences below are about how the car is taxed, not about the need for records.
There are two situations. The car is private and is sometimes driven for the firm, or the car is on the firm's books and is sometimes driven privately.
You pay no mileage allowance to yourselves. Instead you deduct 2.50 kr per km in the tax return for business trips, and a car leased privately counts as your own car. Trips between home and the business premises are not business trips, they are deducted under the same rules as trips to and from work.
The Swedish Tax Agency says it is important to have records showing how much was driven in the business, and recommends a mileage log.
If the car is booked as an asset in the firm, or leased by the firm, all running costs are deductible. The car must be intended for use in the business, and private driving is reported as a car benefit, valued with the same standard rules as for employees.
If the car is used privately at most ten times and at most 1,000 km per year the benefit is tax-free, but it must be possible to show. In the Swedish Tax Agency's words: one way is to keep a proper mileage log.
Fuel is not part of the benefit value. The firm deducts all fuel, and the private share is reported as a withdrawal at market value times 1.2.
For the partners the same applies as for a sole trader. If your own car is driven in the partnership, 2.50 kr per km is deducted. If the car belongs to the partnership, private driving is taxed as a car benefit, and the limit for tax-free private driving is the same.
If the partner pays all the fuel for private trips in the partnership's car, 1.20 kr per kilometre may be deducted, 0.95 kr for an electric car. If the partnership has employees, the limited company rules below apply to them, so the same car can be handled in two ways depending on who drives.
Here the owner is employed by their own company, and the car is handled as for any employee. Three cases.
The company pays a tax-free mileage allowance, 2.50 kr per km. If the company pays more, the excess is salary. The company needs records, for example an expense claim showing the number of kilometres driven.
If the driver may use the company's car privately, the driver is taxed on a car benefit, and then no mileage log is needed for the benefit itself. It is still needed in two cases.
The first is a mileage allowance for business trips in the benefit car, 1.20 kr per km for petrol and diesel and 0.95 kr per km for an electric car, which is only tax-free if the driver paid for all the fuel. The second is if the driver covers at least 30,000 km for work per calendar year and wants to reduce the benefit value to 75 per cent.
If the car belongs to the company and is only driven for work, there is no benefit. Private driving may then be at most ten times and at most 1,000 km per year, both conditions. The mileage log shows this, and without it the driver risks being taxed on a full car benefit however little the car was actually driven privately.
The same list whatever the company form. The Swedish Tax Agency says the log must contain the odometer reading at the start and end of the year, and should contain:
An electronic mileage log records every trip by itself, both private and business, and must have the same headings. What the driver has to add is the errand and who was visited. The Swedish Tax Agency also says an electronic mileage log does not count as extra equipment that raises the benefit value.
More on what the Swedish Tax Agency requires is in the guide Mileage logs: what the Swedish Tax Agency requires.
The burden of proof is on you. If you cannot show a trip was for business it counts as private, and what that costs depends on the company form.
| Company form | Without a mileage log |
|---|---|
| Sole trader, private car | The deduction of 2.50 kr per km is removed for trips that cannot be shown |
| Sole trader, the firm's car | Car benefit for the private driving, and fuel as a withdrawal |
| Partnership, partner | As for a sole trader |
| Limited company, own car | Mileage allowance paid out becomes salary, with employer contributions |
| Limited company, company car | Full car benefit for the driver, employer contributions for the company |
On top of that comes a tax surcharge, 40 per cent of the income tax that should have been paid, or 20 per cent for employer contributions.
Yes, if it contains what the Swedish Tax Agency lists: odometer reading, date, distance, addresses and errand. The Swedish Tax Agency accepts both paper and electronic logs. An app with GPS fills in most of it, but the driver writes the errand and who was visited.
Not for the benefit itself. But it is needed for a mileage allowance for business trips in the benefit car, or to reduce the benefit value to 75 per cent at 30,000 km for work.
Trips between home and the workplace are private. Done regularly, it quickly becomes more than ten times a year, and then it is a benefit.
If it underlies a mileage allowance or a deduction, it is accounting information and must be kept for seven years under the Bookkeeping Act.
The courts put weight on the log being carefully kept. A log reconstructed after the Swedish Tax Agency has been in touch carries little weight, and that is why it should be kept as you go.
With Qubint Start the driver starts the trip in the phone, and the log gets the date, distance and addresses by itself. Start is free for up to five cars.
Get started for free ›Amounts and limits apply to the 2026 income year and are taken from the Swedish Tax Agency, the Income Tax Act and court practice in October 2026, and the rules may change.
Sources
What the mileage log must contain, how much a work vehicle may be used privately and what happens if the records are missing.
Read the guide ›If the employee drives at least 30,000 km for work in the company car during a calendar year, you may reduce the benefit value to 75 per cent.
Read the guide ›In 30 minutes we go through how you look after your cars today, and show what Qubint can take care of for you.
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