What is a sõidupäevik?
A sõidupäevik is Estonia's mileage log: a list of the work trips you make in your own car. It's what lets your employer pay you a car allowance without taxes.
In short
Every time you drive your own car for work, you write down who drove, which car, when, from where to where, why, and the odometer reading at the start and end. At the end of the month that adds up to kilometres, and the kilometres to an allowance: up to €0.50 per km and up to €550 a month.
The exact list of fields, with examples, is on the mileage log requirements page.
Example: one line of the log
01.10.2026, Tallinn → Tartu, client meeting in Tartu, odometer 48,213 → 48,396, distance 183 km. The header holds the driver's name and the registration number. That line is worth 183 × €0.50 = €91.50 of tax-free allowance. A whole filled-in month is in the example log.
Is a sõidupäevik mandatory?
Not on its own. Nobody keeps one just because they own a car. It becomes mandatory the moment your employer wants to pay a tax-free allowance for your car. Without a log the same money is salary, with income and social tax on top.
What happens without one
The employer can still pay for your car, but then it's ordinary salary. €252 a month that would be tax-free with a log is taxed with income and social tax without one, like any other euro of pay. The same happens if the log exists but a required field is missing.
Who needs one
The tax-free allowance can be paid to employees, public servants and management board members. In practice: an employee who drives their own car for work (an M1 or M1G passenger car the employer doesn't own), and the employer who wants to pay them for it. The employer declares the amounts once a year on the INF 14 form. Who exactly qualifies and how much is on the car allowance page.
What it gives the employer
For the employer, the mileage log is evidence. The allowance is paid from it, INF 14 is filled in from it at year-end, and it shows why the payment was tax-free. A tidy log means nobody has to ask at month-end what «that 128?» was.
Paper, Excel or an app?
The law doesn't prescribe a format. A notebook in the glovebox, a spreadsheet or an app all work if the data is there and adds up. They differ in how much work and how many mistakes come with them:
- A free Excel template if you drive little.
- A comparison of paper, Excel, GPS apps and DrivLog if you're choosing.
- A step-by-step guide to keeping the log.
Common misconceptions
- «It has to be on paper.» No. An electronic log is just as good if the fields are filled in.
- «You need a GPS device in the car.» No. The law asks for data, not tracking.
- «Every trip must be logged.» Only work trips. Private kilometres sit between two work trips.
- «The allowance is always €0.50 per km.» €0.50 is the ceiling, not an obligation, and the monthly total is capped at €550.
What it isn't
A sõidupäevik isn't GPS tracking. The law doesn't require anyone to know where your car is at every moment. Only work trips go in, and you're the one who records them. DrivLog works the same way: it doesn't read your location, and the evening grocery run stays your business.