Proper logbook despite minor inaccuracies

Despite minor deficiencies and inaccuracies, a driver's logbook can be recognized for tax purposes if the information is complete overall and correctly reflects the private use portion.

Minor defects and inaccuracies in the logbook do not lead to the rejection and application of the 1 % rule if the information is plausible overall. The Lower Saxony Fiscal Court thus follows an earlier ruling by the Federal Fiscal Court. The decisive factor is whether, despite the deficiencies, there is still sufficient guarantee that the information is complete and correct and that it is possible to prove the taxable private share of the total mileage of the company car.

In the case in dispute, the tax court assumed that the driver's logbook was correct, although the plaintiff used abbreviations for customers and location information and did not record fuel stops and location information for overnight hotel stays. The court also considered differences from the comparison between the mileage data in the driver's logbook and a route planner to be insignificant below certain limits. The requirements for the proper keeping of a driver's logbook should not be overstretched, so that the 1% rule does not become an irrefutable typification in practice. Because this would threaten excessive taxation, this could not be justified on constitutional grounds.