Company Car Calculator: Flat Rate or Logbook?
Run both German methods side by side: what the company car costs under the 1 % flat rate, what it costs with a logbook – and which one wins at your mileage.
- Both methods in one calculation
- Covers EVs and plug-in hybrids
- Free, no sign-up
Vehicle and commute
Cost and mileage
Only the logbook method needs these – it works from the vehicle's actual cost instead of a flat rate.
Commute derived: 8,800 km per year (distance × working days × 2)
1 % flat rate
€800
taxable benefit per month · €9,600 per year
- Assessment base (rounded down)
- €50,000
- Effective monthly rate
- 1 %
- Private use per year
- €6,000
- Commute per year (0.03 %)
- €3,600
Logbook
cheaper€617
taxable benefit per month · €7,400 per year
- Depreciation per year
- €8,000
- Total cost per year
- €15,000
- Cost per kilometre
- €0.50
- Private share of use
- 49.3 %
With a logbook you declare €2,200 less per year.
At a marginal rate of 42 % that is roughly €924 in tax per year – an approximation that ignores progression, solidarity surcharge, church tax, and social security.
Download the logbook templateGuidance only, not tax advice. Your individual case and the assessment of your tax adviser or the tax office are what count.
Why there are two methods at all
Anyone allowed to use a company car privately receives a taxable benefit – salary in kind. It is taxed either as a flat rate under the 1 % rule or precisely via a logbook. You choose per vehicle and calendar year; switching mid-year is only possible when the vehicle changes.
The flat rate is convenient: 1 % of the gross list price rounded down to full hundreds per month, plus 0.03 % per kilometre of distance to the primary workplace. How much you actually drive privately is irrelevant – which is exactly the drawback when you drive privately very little.
The logbook inverts the logic: it spreads actual vehicle cost across the kilometres driven and taxes only the private portion. That pays off with a low private share, a high list price, or a largely depreciated vehicle – but it demands discipline, because the logbook must be kept promptly, without gaps, and in closed form.
Which rate applies when
For electric and hybrid vehicles the legislator lowers the assessment base. The reduction applies to both methods – to the list price under the flat rate, to depreciation under the logbook.
| Vehicle | Monthly rate | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Battery electric | 0.25 % | Gross list price up to €100,000 (cap raised 1 July 2025; previously €70,000) |
| Electric above the cap | 0.5 % | Gross list price above €100,000 |
| Plug-in hybrid | 0.5 % | At least 80 km electric range or no more than 50 g CO₂/km |
| Combustion and other hybrids | 1 % | No reduction |
Legal position as of 19 August 2026. The electric-vehicle reduction is currently set to expire at the end of 2030.
Three steps to a decision
- 1
Enter the vehicle data
Gross list price at first registration, drivetrain, and the one-way distance to your primary workplace. Take the list price from the manufacturer's price list – not the price you negotiated.
- 2
Estimate actual cost
Purchase price including VAT and one year of running cost: energy, insurance, vehicle tax, servicing, and repairs. The calculator derives depreciation over six years itself.
- 3
Split the mileage
Total kilometres per year and how many of them are purely private. The commute is derived from distance and working days. The smaller your private share, the more likely the logbook wins.
Common questions about company car taxation
More than one company car in the business?
Logbooks, UVV deadlines, and licence checks for the whole fleet in one place – instead of five spreadsheets.