Who this is for
Residential and commercial agents in BC who drive for showings, listings and client meetings, whether they claim the vehicle personally or through a PREC. Our general vehicle records guide covers all businesses; this one is about the trips a realtor makes.
The five points
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What counts as business driving. Showings, listing presentations, open houses and inspections. Meetings with clients, lawyers, notaries and lenders. Trips to the brokerage for meetings. Photography and staging visits, courses and conferences. Each is a business trip with a purpose you can write down.
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What does not. Commuting between home and the brokerage office, if the brokerage is your principal place of business. Personal errands on the way. Driving a family member. If your home is your principal office, trips that start there for business are business trips, which is why the home office question matters.
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Four entries per trip. Date, destination, purpose, kilometres. An app that records trips automatically works, but it needs the purpose added. A notebook works. A reconstruction in April does not.
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Odometer readings and the base-year rule. Record the odometer on the first and last day of the year. Keep a full log for one complete year. In later years a three-month sample is accepted. Its business use must be within ten percentage points of the base year, and the base year must still reflect how you drive. Keep the base-year log for six years after the last year you relied on it.
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How the percentage is applied. Business kilometres divided by total kilometres gives the business percentage. It is applied to fuel, insurance, licence, repairs, parking for business, lease payments or loan interest within the CRA’s limits, and depreciation on the vehicle. Tolls and parking for a specific business trip are claimed in full.
One thing many people do not realize
Driving from your home to your brokerage office is personal travel in the CRA’s eyes, the same as any commute. Driving from your home office to a showing, or from the brokerage to a listing appointment, is business. Agents whose home is their principal place of business can treat trips from home as business trips; agents who work from the brokerage office cannot. Where your office is decides which trips count.
What to prepare
- Your trip log for the year, or the three-month sample plus the base-year log
- Odometer readings for January 1 and December 31
- Receipts: fuel, insurance, repairs, parking, tolls
- Lease or loan statements
- Purchase or sale documents for the vehicle
- Where your principal place of business is: home or brokerage
When professional help may make sense
A vehicle owned by the PREC but also used personally. Two vehicles, or a vehicle bought or sold in the year. A past claim made without a log. Each changes the calculation.
How Rex Tax may be able to help
We prepare the vehicle claim with your personal or PREC return, work out the business percentage, and set up a log you will keep. Our realtor year-end records guide lists everything else to bring.
Official sources
This guide is general information, not advice about your situation. It reflects the rules for the 2026 tax year. It has not yet been reviewed by a practitioner. The information was checked against the official sources listed above on the date shown. Rules change. Check the official sources above or ask us. How we prepare these guides.