A SARS travel logbook you keep on WhatsApp
If you claim a travel allowance or use a company car, SARS expects a logbook of business trips. Pennies lets you keep it in WhatsApp: send each trip as a message or voice note, and Pennies builds the logbook for the tax year.
How to log a trip
- Type trip 42km client meeting Sandton, or say it in a voice note.
- Or send odometer readings: trip 81234 to 81276 site visit Midrand.
- Pennies confirms the date, distance and purpose. Send undo trip if it's wrong.
What you get
A spreadsheet for each tax year (1 March to end of February) with the date, where you went, why, and the distance for every trip, plus totals for business kilometres. Your accountant can download it from their dashboard.
Staff trips and expense claims
If the owner sets a rate per kilometre (send claim rate 4.95), staff trips go on their expense claims automatically. Pennies shows the SARS prescribed rate and warns when a rate is above it, because the excess is taxable for the employee.
Questions
Is a WhatsApp logbook acceptable to SARS?
SARS needs a record of each business trip – date, distance, where and why – plus opening and closing odometer readings for the year. Pennies records each trip in that format. Keep your opening and closing readings and check the logbook with your accountant.
Can I log trips after the fact?
Yes. Add the date, for example 'trip 3 March 42km client meeting Sandton'. Entering trips as they happen is the most reliable.
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