Real estate agent expenses in Australia: cents per km, logbook, FBT, and marketing

A real estate agent’s tax return is built around the car and the marketing budget. High business mileage between listings and inspections makes the vehicle method the central decision, and a layer of FBT can sit on top when the agency provides the car. Get the vehicle treatment and its records right and the rest of agency accounting is ordinary. All figures below are sourced from ATO guidance in the Sources section.

The vehicle method: cents per kilometre versus logbook

There are two ways to claim a car. The cents-per-kilometre method pays 88 cents per kilometre for 2025-26, capped at 5,000 business kilometres per car, and bundles all running costs including depreciation into the rate; you do not need a logbook but must show how you worked out the kilometres ^[1] . For claims above 5,000 km, the logbook method lets you claim the business-use percentage of every car expense plus depreciation, supported by a logbook kept for at least 12 continuous representative weeks ^[2] .

For a busy agent, business kilometres almost always exceed the 5,000 km cap, which pushes most full-time agents toward the logbook method and its 12-week record. The methods are set out in the claim mileage in Australia guide.

FBT when the agency provides a car

Where an agency provides a car that is available for an employee agent’s private use, fringe benefits tax can apply, which is a cost and a return obligation on the agency, not the agent ^[2] . A self-employed agent claiming their own car has no FBT but must apportion private use. So the same vehicle can be a deduction, an apportionment, or a fringe benefit depending on who owns it and who drives it, which is why the ownership and use of each car should be settled before it is booked.

Marketing, styling, GST, and home office

Marketing is the other defining cost: portal listings, photography, signage, and advertising are deductible, and styling to present a listing is a cost of the sale. Where a vendor reimburses marketing, that recovery is income, so on-charged marketing must be tracked both ways. A GST-registered agent charges 10% GST on commission and claims GST credits on costs, registering once turnover reaches $75,000. Home-office admin follows the claim home office in Australia guide. Car claims are an ATO focus area, so the substantiation has to hold up: keep the logbook, the odometer readings at the start and end of the period, and the receipts behind the running costs, because an unsupported business-use percentage is the claim most likely to be adjusted on review.

Where ExpenseFlow fits

An agent’s ledger is a stream of fuel, marketing, and software receipts captured between inspections. ExpenseFlow captures each receipt and tax invoice from a phone photo or forwarded email, extracts the line detail and GST, and syncs the transaction into Xero or QuickBooks Online with the source image attached for the five-year record-keeping window. It keeps the marketing and running-cost receipts that support the deduction with the transaction, and flags vehicle running costs as needing a business-use apportionment (and a possible FBT question on a work car) rather than a 100% claim. It does not keep your logbook, choose cents-per-km versus logbook, calculate FBT, or set the business-use percentage: those stay with you or your accountant. What it removes is the receipt pile that builds up in a car over a busy quarter.

Common mistakes

• Using cents per kilometre beyond the 5,000 km cap instead of switching to the logbook method ^[1] .
• Claiming cents per kilometre and also claiming depreciation, when the rate already includes it ^[1] .
• Treating an agency-provided car as a simple deduction when it may be a fringe benefit ^[2] .
• Forgetting that vendor-reimbursed marketing is income, not just a recovered cost.