Expenses and travel · Mapas de kms (mileage logs)
Kilometres in your own car, with no spreadsheet
The employee records the month's trips in their own car. The team leader approves the log in Approvals, and the company pays it with expenses in a single transfer. The exempt and taxable parts always stay apart, and the log comes out as a PDF with the fields the tax authority asks for.
Without a log, the km stop being exempt
Up to €0.40 per km in your own vehicle pays no IRS (personal income tax) or Segurança Social (Portuguese social security). But only with a log that says who went, where, when, why, in which car and how many km. A spreadsheet sent by email gets lost, has no approval and doesn't separate what goes over the limit. In an inspection, the company pays.
The employee
One log a month, one trip at a time
In My expenses, on the Mileage logs tab. The month's log creates itself with the first trip, and the employee sees the total, the exempt part and the taxable part before submitting.
- Date, origin, destination, purpose, client or project, round trip and vehicle on every trip
- Departure and return times, if the company asks for them
- No deadline: an old month can still be submitted, and a paid month stays locked
- Cancel while nobody has decided. If rejected, fix it and submit again
Vehicles
Only your own vehicle counts
Each person registers the cars they use, with the plate and the owner. A company car, or one leased or rented by the company, can't be declared, as the AT (tax authority) requires.
- Portuguese plate validated, plus make and model
- The car can belong to someone else, a spouse for example, with the owner's name
- Mandatory declaration that it isn't a company vehicle, with the date it was made
- Each trip keeps that day's plate and owner, even if the vehicle is archived
A 30-minute demo with your data imported live.
Who approves
In Approvals, next to annual leave and expenses
The submitted log goes to whoever leads the employee's team, or to the people the company chose in Who approves, on its own tab. The whole log is decided at once, with the trips in view and the taxable amount flagged if the rate per km goes over the limit.
- Approve or reject one at a time, or several at once
- Rejecting asks for a reason, which the employee sees on the log
- If the approver is away, the backup approver decides
- Nobody decides their own logs, not even the company owner
At the end of the month
Pay with expenses, or on the payslip
Approved logs are paid in Payments, in the same batch and the same SEPA file as expenses and ajudas de custo (per diem). If Selfcare payroll is on, the company can choose to pay them on the payslip.
- One transfer per person, or one per log, with the month in the payment description
- Above the exempt limit, you pay the net amount on the accountant's payslip, or the full amount if the company decides so
- On the Selfcare payslip: the exempt part under A22 in the DMR-AT (monthly pay return to the AT), the excess as income, with IRS and Segurança Social
- Month's file for the accountant, with the NIF (tax number), the plate, the km, and the exempt and taxable parts
The log the tax authority asks for, without having to think about it
Log as a PDF
Per person and per month: company, employee, each trip with place, purpose, date, plate, owner and km, the exempt and taxable totals, who approved and the signatures.
Proof of payment
The report for each batch, and for each person and month, with what was paid and how. No salaries, and the IBAN shows only its last four digits.
Each log keeps its own calculation
The rate per km and the year's limit stay on the log. Changing the rate later doesn't touch what was already submitted.
Nothing gets paid twice
Each log stays linked to the batch or payslip that paid it. Cancelling the batch, or reverting the payment, puts it back to unpaid.
One switch
Turn it on in Settings, Modules, with the Per diem licence. Turned off, it disappears for the whole company and nothing is lost.
Everything on record
Every trip, submission, decision, payment and PDF goes into the audit log, with who did it and when.
See Selfcare with your own data
Settings and management
One rate per km for the whole company
By default, the year's exempt limit. Above it, the page warns how much becomes taxable and asks for confirmation before saving. Management sees everyone's logs in Administration, Expenses.
- Filters by month, date range and employee, and CSV export
- Record trips on someone's behalf, and reopen, cancel or delete what hasn't been paid yet
- On the employee profile, bulk actions on several logs at once
- API, MCP and webhooks to connect the logs to your software
Frequently asked questions
How much can the company pay per km without IRS or Segurança Social?+
Up to €0.40 per km in your own car, the amount in Portaria 1553-D/2008 that still applies in 2026. The company can pay more. The excess is employment income, with IRS and Segurança Social, and Selfcare always shows it separately.
Do I need Selfcare payroll?+
No. Logs are paid in the Payments batch, with expenses and per diem, and the accountant gets the month's file. With Selfcare payroll on, the company can choose to pay them on the payslip.
Are the km calculated automatically?+
By default, the employee types the km for each trip, with one decimal place, and says whether it was a round trip. Automatic calculation is optional: with Google Maps turned on in the module settings, the Calculate km button fills in the road distance. The km stay editable, and the approver sees if they were changed.
What about tolls and parking?+
They aren't included in the €0.40 per km. Record them in Expenses, with the invoice, and they are paid in the same batch.
Can I declare a company car?+
No. Only your own vehicle qualifies for the exempt allowance. Each vehicle is registered with a declaration that it doesn't belong to the company and isn't leased or rented by the company.
Is there a deadline for submitting the log?+
No. An old month can be submitted whenever the employee wants. Once paid or processed on the payslip, the log stays locked.
Is it the same as per diem?+
No. Per diem compensates for the meals and accommodation of a trip, by the hours. Mileage logs compensate for the use of your own car, by the kilometre. They share a licence and are paid in the same batch.
Can I work it out beforehand?+
Yes, with the how much do I get per km simulator, which uses the same calculation Selfcare uses on the logs. There's a step-by-step guide for approvers and whoever pays, and another for employees.
See a mileage log from the first trip to payment
In a 30-minute demo we record trips, approve the log, pay it with expenses and look at the PDF that stays on file for the tax authority.