Mileage allowance
Mileage allowance in the Netherlands in 2026: keep the evidence
Using a private vehicle for business in the Netherlands? See which trip details help support your 2026 mileage administration.
Mileage rules can change and depend on who owns the vehicle. The durable part of your administration is the evidence: when you drove, where you went, how far and why the drive was business-related.
This article is general information for people working with Dutch mileage records, not personal tax advice. Always verify the current rate and treatment with the Dutch Tax Administration or an adviser.
Start with vehicle ownership
A privately owned vehicle used for business is administered differently from a company car. Record the vehicle context before applying any rate or tax treatment.
Evidence for a business drive
- Date
- Origin and destination
- Business distance
- Client, project or purpose
- Vehicle used
- Supporting appointment or invoice where relevant
Do not treat an allowance as automatic income
A per-kilometre amount is not proof by itself. Keep the underlying drives and use the official rate that applies to the period and your situation.
Separate commute, business and private drives so an accountant can apply the right treatment later.
Export a clean audit trail
A PDF is useful for review; CSV preserves the individual records. Keeping both makes corrections and handover easier.
RouteVero lets you review incomplete drives before producing the reporting file.
Build a monthly mileage calculation
At month end, filter the relevant vehicle and period, then total only the drives that qualify for your chosen treatment. Keep the underlying list alongside the calculation so a total can always be traced back to specific dates, destinations and purposes.
Avoid hard-coding one rate into years of history. Rates and rules may change, and different vehicle situations can be treated differently. Recording the distance separately from the rate makes later corrections much safer.
Common administration mistakes
Frequent problems include counting a private detour as business distance, mixing two cars in one odometer sequence, leaving the business purpose blank and relying on a calendar without preserving the actual route or distance.
A short weekly review catches these issues while the context is still fresh. If a trip combines business and private travel, add a clear note and keep the split understandable for the person reviewing the report.