Mileage log according to the Swedish Tax Agency. Rules and requirements 2026

The Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) requires that a mileage log contains date, time, odometer reading at start and stop, the route’s start and end points, the purpose of the trip and the driver. If any of those are missing you risk having your company car taxed at the full benefit value as if it were a private car. For a company car that can cost tens of thousands of SEK per year.

The five required fields

For every trip the log must show:

1. Date and time for departure and arrival
2. Odometer reading at start and stop, in kilometers
3. Address or location for start and destination
4. Purpose of the trip, if it is for business
5. Driver’s name

Skatteverket has no formal format requirement. Paper logs, spreadsheets and digital logs are all valid, as long as the fields are present and the log is kept continuously.

What “kept continuously” means

Continuously means the line is entered in connection with the trip, not reconstructed afterward. During an audit Skatteverket wants to see that the entries are plausible and not collected one evening in January. Missing odometer readings on individual days, or every trip having the same purpose, raises suspicion.

How long the log must be kept

Skatteverket can request a mileage log up to six years back. That is the same window as for bookkeeping records. It means a log from 2020 can still be requested during 2026.

When a mileage log is required

A mileage log is required if you:

• Have a company car and want to avoid full benefit taxation
• Are self-employed and want to deduct car costs in the business
• Are an owner of a closely-held company with mixed car use
• Claim per-kilometer reimbursement for business driving with a private car

If the log is missing entirely or incomplete there is a risk that Skatteverket reclaims earlier deductions, raises the benefit value retroactively or applies a tax surcharge.

What counts as a business trip

This is where most people get it wrong. Trips between home and your regular workplace are commute, not business. Trips to client, supplier, meeting, training or representation are business. Trips related to a temporary work assignment can be business depending on distance and duration. More on the borderline in Private trip vs business trip.

Benefit value and the limited private use rule

For a company car, full benefit value applies if the car can be used privately. Limited private use, defined as a maximum of 1,000 km per year, can lead to a reduced benefit value. But it requires that the limitation can be proven with exactly the kind of continuous mileage log that shows every trip.

“Is it enough if I only log the business trips?”

No. The log must show all trips, both business and private, so Skatteverket can see the full picture. The difference between business and total driving determines whether private use is limited.

Manipulation protection

Skatteverket can question whether a log has been manipulated after the fact. A digital log with an audit trail is therefore safer. For an automatic mileage log with cryptographically signed lines, like MPH DriveLog, the manipulation question is resolved before it is asked.

What MPH DriveLog does

DriveLog meets all five requirements automatically. Odometer, date, location and route come straight from Tesla. You add purpose where needed and confirm driver. Classification is handled by the rule engine. Storage and audit trail are included.

For more on why paper logs often fail, see Common mistakes in mileage logs and Do you need a mileage log for a company car.