Motor vehicle expenses

On this page, you will find information on the following:

When can you deduct motor vehicle expenses?

You can deduct motor vehicle expenses in the following circumstances:

You cannot deduct motor vehicle expenses you incur to collect rents. These are personal expenses.

This applies whether your rental properties are located in or outside the general area where you live. Your rental properties have to be located in at least two different sites, away from your principal residence. The motor vehicle expenses that we consider to be reasonable depend on the circumstances of your situation.

You can deduct motor vehicle expenses only when they are reasonable and you have receipts. You also have to keep records of the kilometres you drove for your rental properties and the total kilometres you drove in the year. You must also determine the total expenses paid for the vehicle in the year. For more information, visit Keeping records.

What type of vehicle do you own or lease?

Go to Type of vehicle you own or lease before calculating your deductible expenses.

Joint ownership

If you and another person own or lease a passenger vehicle or zero-emission passenger vehicle, the limits on capital cost allowance, interest and leasing costs still apply. The total amount the you (as a joint owner) or any other owners deduct cannot be more than the amount one person owning or leasing the vehicle could deduct.

Business use of a motor vehicle or passenger vehicle (including zero-emission vehicles and zero-emission passenger vehicles)

If you use a motor vehicle or passenger vehicle for business and personal use, you can deduct only the part of the expenses you paid to earn income. However, you can deduct the full amount of parking fees related to your business activities and supplementary business insurance for your motor vehicle or passenger vehicle. To support the amount you can deduct, keep a record of both the total kilometres you drove and the kilometres you drove to earn income.

If you use more than one motor vehicle or passenger vehicle for your business, for each vehicle keep a separate record that shows the total personal-use kilometres and business kilometres you drive, as well as the cost to run and maintain each vehicle. Calculate each vehicle's expenses separately.

For information on how to calculate the motor vehicle expenses that you can deduct, see Guide T4002, Self-employed Business, Professional, Commission, Farming, and Fishing Income.

Deductible expenses

The types of expenses you can deduct include:

Interest expense

In the calculation of your motor vehicle expenses, you can deduct the interest on money you borrowed to buy a motor vehicle, a zero-emission vehiclepassenger vehicle, or a zero-emission passenger vehicle you use to earn rental income.

However, there is a limit on the amount of interest you can deduct when you use a passenger vehicle or zero-emission passenger vehicle to earn rental income. The amount of interest you can deduct is limited to the lesser of the following two amounts:

Leasing costs for a passenger vehicle (or a vehicle that would qualify as a zero-emission passenger vehicle if you owned it)

You can deduct interest on the money you borrow to lease a motor vehicle you used to earn rental income. Include the leasing costs you paid when you calculate your allowable motor vehicle expenses.

When you use a passenger vehicle to earn rental income, there is a limit on the amount of the leasing costs you can deduct. For more information, go to Chart to calculate eligible leasing costs for passenger vehicles.

If the lease agreement for your passenger vehicle includes items such as insurance, maintenance and taxes, include them as part of the lease charges when you complete the Chart to calculate eligible leasing costs for passenger vehicles.

Note

Generally, leases include taxes (GST/HST or PST), but not items such as insurance and maintenance. You have to pay these amounts separately. Include the taxes as part of the lease charges when you complete the Chart to calculate eligible leasing costs for passenger vehicles, and list the items like insurance and maintenance on the appropriate lines.

Repayments and imputed interest

When you lease a passenger vehicle, you may have a repayment owing to you, or you may have imputed interest. If so, you cannot use the leasing chart. Instead, contact us.

Imputed interest is interest that would be owing to you if interest were paid on the money you deposited to lease a passenger vehicle. Calculate imputed interest for leasing costs on a passenger vehicle only if all of the following apply:

Forms and publications

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