Realtors · Edmonton
Realtor vehicle expenses: the CRA log that holds up
Your car is probably your biggest write-off. Here's how to log it properly, use the three-month sample rule to save time, and avoid the commuting trap.
By the Plum team- Updated Oct 2026
- 7 min read
- You can deduct the business share of your vehicle costs, and the log is what proves that share.
- Keep a full 12-month log once. After that, a three-month sample can do the job if your driving stays similar.
- Commuting to a regular office is personal. A real home office changes that.
- Business parking is 100% deductible and sits outside the percentage.
For most agents, the car is an office on wheels. It's also the expense CRA reviews most often. The rules for realtor vehicle expenses with CRA are simple on paper: claim the business share of your costs and prove it with a log. In practice, the log is where claims fall apart. Here's how to keep one that holds up, without logging every kilometre for the rest of your career.
1What you can claim
If you own or lease a vehicle you use for showings, listings and client meetings, you can deduct the business share of:
- Fuel and charging
- Insurance, registration and licence fees
- Maintenance, repairs, tires and car washes
- Lease payments, or capital cost allowance if you own it
- Interest on a car loan
CRA caps the amounts you can claim for lease payments, loan interest and the cost of a passenger vehicle, and the limits change from time to time. Your accountant applies these at year-end, but it helps to know they exist before you buy a pricey vehicle expecting a big write-off.
The business share is business kilometres divided by total kilometres for the year. If you drove 30,000 km and 21,000 were for business, you claim 70% of the costs above.
2What a CRA vehicle log needs
For each business trip, record:
A mileage app that tracks trips by GPS works well, as long as you classify trips as you go and add a purpose. A notebook in the console works too. What doesn't work is reconstructing the year from your calendar in April. It's slow, and it's easy to challenge.
3Edmonton driving: business or personal?
Whether a trip counts depends a lot on where your business is based. These are examples for an agent who lives in Terwillegar.
| Trip | Home office is main place of business | Brokerage desk is regular workplace |
|---|---|---|
| Home to a showing in Windermere | Business | Business |
| Home to the brokerage on 124 Street for the day | Business if for a meeting or task | Personal (commuting) |
| Brokerage to a listing appointment in St. Albert | Business | Business |
| Dropping signs at a listing in Sherwood Park | Business | Business |
| Last showing in Summerside, then home | Business | Usually business |
| Grocery stop on the way home | Personal detour | Personal detour |
The pattern: trips to clients, properties, inspections, lawyers' offices and the land titles office are business. Getting to and from a regular place of work is not. That's why a genuine home office can raise your business-use percentage, sometimes by a lot. Read more about home office rules in our realtor tax deductions checklist.
4The three-month sample rule for realtor vehicle expenses
CRA lets you stop logging every day of the year once you have a solid baseline. It works like this:
- Base year. Keep a complete logbook for one full, typical 12-month period.
- Later years. Keep a log for one continuous three-month sample period.
- The test. Your business use in the sample has to stay within roughly 10% of the base year, both for the same three months and overall. If your driving changes a lot, you need a new base year.
The calculation scales your base year by how the sample compares with the same months in the base year:
| Figure | Example |
|---|---|
| Base year, business use for the full year | 70% |
| Base year, business use for March to May | 72% |
| This year, business use for March to May | 68% |
| Estimated business use this year (68 ÷ 72 × 70) | 66% |
Pick a sample period that reflects your normal year. For many Edmonton agents, a spring stretch is busy and a December stretch is quiet, so be consistent with the months you compare. Check CRA's current guidance before you rely on the shortcut, and keep the base year log for as long as you use it.
5Common mistakes we see
- Claiming 100%. Very few agents use a vehicle only for business. A 100% claim with a family vehicle invites questions.
- Mixing parking into vehicle costs. Business parking is fully deductible on its own. Lumping it into the percentage shrinks it for no reason. Parking tickets aren't deductible at all.
- Two vehicles, one log. If you use two cars for work, each needs its own log and its own costs.
- Forgetting GST. If you're registered, the GST on fuel, repairs and lease payments can be claimed back for the business share. See our GST on commission guide.
- No receipts behind the costs. The log proves the percentage. Receipts and statements prove the costs it applies to.
6If you didn't keep a log this year
It happens, especially in a first year when you're busy getting deals done. A log written after the fact won't carry the weight of one kept as you went, but you're not out of options.
- Rebuild it from real records. Your calendar, showing app history, listing appointments, emails and phone location history can show where you went and why. Be conservative, and note how you rebuilt it.
- Don't round up. A modest, well-supported percentage is far easier to defend than a generous guess.
- Start a proper log today. Every month you log properly strengthens your claim and starts your base year for the three-month shortcut.
It's also worth sorting out which vehicle costs you can find. Fuel on a business credit card, insurance documents, registration renewals and service invoices all support the cost side. Pull them together now rather than in April, when everything is harder to find.
Finally, think about the vehicle itself before your next purchase. CRA limits what you can claim on pricier vehicles, so a more expensive car doesn't always mean a bigger deduction. Run the numbers with your accountant first.
We help agents in Edmonton, Spruce Grove, Leduc and Fort Saskatchewan get their vehicle numbers right every month, not in a panic in April. Book a free 15-minute call and we'll look at how you're tracking it now.
7Questions people ask
Do realtors need a mileage log for CRA?
Yes. CRA expects a logbook showing the date, destination, purpose and kilometres of each business trip, plus your odometer readings at the start and end of the year. Without it, your vehicle claim is hard to defend.
What is the CRA 3-month vehicle log rule?
Once you've kept a full 12-month base year log, CRA lets you log a representative three-month sample period in later years and use it to estimate annual business use, as long as your driving stays within about 10% of the base year. Confirm the details in CRA's guidance.
Is driving to my brokerage office a business expense?
Usually not, if the brokerage is your regular place of work. That's commuting. If your home office is your principal place of business, trips from home to showings, listings and the brokerage for meetings can count as business.
Can realtors deduct parking?
Yes. Parking for showings, listing appointments and client meetings is fully deductible on its own and isn't prorated by your business-use percentage. Parking tickets are not deductible.
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Book a free 15-min callThis article is general information for Alberta businesses and isn't tax or legal advice. Rules and thresholds change, so confirm your situation with your accountant or CRA.