Plain language law

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Income Tax Act 2007

Deductions - Motor vehicle expenditure

DE 9: Inadequate logbook

You could also call this:

“When your vehicle logbook is considered inaccurate by the Commissioner”

If you keep a logbook for your motor vehicle to show how much you use it for business, the Commissioner might think it’s not accurate. If this happens, the Commissioner can do two things:

They can tell you to keep another logbook for 90 days during the same period as your first logbook. Or, they can decide that your logbook doesn’t count at all.

If you have to keep a new logbook and it shows that you use your vehicle for business at least 20% less than your first logbook said, the Commissioner might decide that your first logbook was only right for part of the time or wasn’t right at all.

If the Commissioner thinks your first logbook was only right for part of the time, they can choose a date when it stopped being right. Your new logbook will then start from the next day.

If the Commissioner thinks your first logbook wasn’t right at all, they can make your new logbook cover the same time period as the first one did.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM1513874.

Topics:
Money and consumer rights > Taxes
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DE 8: Logbook term, or

“Time period for measuring business use of a vehicle, lasting up to 3 years”

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DE 10: Variance during logbook term, or

“Changes in business use of your vehicle may require ending your logbook term early”

Part D Deductions
Motor vehicle expenditure

DE 9Inadequate logbook

  1. If the Commissioner considers that the proportion of business use recorded in a logbook does not, or does no longer, represent the average use of a motor vehicle for business purposes during an income year that falls within a logbook term, the Commissioner may,—

  2. within the logbook term, direct a person to keep a further logbook and specify another 90 day period in the logbook term for keeping the logbook; or
    1. treat a person as not having kept a logbook that applies to the logbook term.

      1. If the Commissioner directs a person to keep a further logbook, and the proportion of business use calculated under that logbook is less by at least 20% than the proportion under the first logbook, the Commissioner may find that the first logbook—

      2. represented the average use of the motor vehicle for business purposes for only part of the logbook term; or
        1. did not represent that use at all.

          1. If subsection (2)(a) applies, the Commissioner may determine a date on which the application of the first logbook ended, and the further logbook applies to a new logbook term that starts on the day after that date.

          2. If subsection (2)(b) applies, the Commissioner may direct that the further logbook applies for the logbook term to which the first logbook applied.

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