Motorbike on business: buying smart as a self-employed person?

When is a company motorbike interesting for self-employed people?

A company motorcycle can be suitable if you use it a lot for your business. Compare purchase price, annual costs and private use. Whether you are allowed to choose between business and private use depends on the actual business use; a company motorcycle is not more advantageous for everyone.

Conditions motorbike on business

If you use the motorbike for 10% or less for business purposes, it must be classified as private assets. If you use it for 90% or more for business purposes, it must be classified as business assets. For amounts in between, you may choose. You cannot change a final choice unless there are exceptional circumstances. You must assess your VAT status separately. Keep a mileage log and provide evidence of the business purpose of your journeys. See the rules for asset labelling.

Deductible costs of a company motorbike

If you put the bike on your business, then almost all expenses are deductible. Think about:

• Fuel and maintenance,
• Insurance,
• Motor vehicle tax,
• Parking charges,
• Necessary accessories such as helmet, motorbike clothing or cases.

You can also make use of the purchase costs for tax purposes. If you invest more than €2,900 in business assets (such as your motorcycle) in a year, you may be eligible, subject to certain conditions, for the small-scale investment deduction (KIA). This allows you to deduct an additional part of the investment from your profit. The deduction reduces your taxable profit; the benefit depends on your tax position and the annual conditions.

Writing off motorbikes as self-employed

Annual depreciation = (acquisition cost − residual value) ÷ expected useful life, up to a maximum of 20% of the acquisition cost per year. In the first year, you depreciate on a pro rata basis. A motorbike costing €10,000 with a residual value of €2,000 and a useful life of five years results in depreciation of €1,600 per full year, as shown below. Calculate excluding deductible VAT; non-deductible VAT forms part of the purchase cost. Assess accessories that together constitute a single asset collectively. Durable, stand-alone assets costing €450 or more are generally depreciated; the KIA also has its own annual conditions.

Additional taxable benefit for company motorbike

For motorcycles, there is no fixed benefit-in-kind addition like there is for cars. The exemption of up to 500 private kilometres for cars does not apply to motorcycles. If you use your motorcycle for both business and private purposes, you must determine yourself which proportion of the costs is private. You do this on the basis of the number of kilometres driven. You calculate how many kilometres you have driven privately and multiply that by the actual cost per kilometre (the total annual motorcycle costs divided by the total number of kilometres).

You add the resulting amount to your profit. The remaining costs remain deductible as business expenses. Commuting here counts as business use, which is favourable. So you do not have an addition based on the catalogue value, but a settlement based on actual private use.

Sample calculation

Suppose you have €4,000 in total motorbike costs (fuel, insurance, maintenance and depreciation) in one year and drive a total of 10,000 kilometres. Of that, 2,000 kilometres are private.

The actual kilometre price is then €4,000 ÷ 10,000 = €0.40 per kilometre.

For the 2,000 private kilometres, calculate: 2.000 × €0,40 = €800.

That means adding €800 of private use to your profit. The remaining €3,200 (€4,000 - €800) remains deductible as business expenses.

VAT on a company motorbike

The choice of income tax does not automatically determine the VAT deduction. For a motorcycle that is treated as business property for VAT purposes, deduction depends on the invoice and its use for taxed turnover. Private use requires a correction; commuting is classified as private for VAT purposes. If you keep the motorcycle private for VAT purposes, you do not deduct the VAT on the purchase. VAT on use and maintenance may be deductible in proportion to its use for taxed turnover. Keep invoices and substantiate the use. See the VAT rules for private use.

Electric motor on business

In 2026, electric motorcycles are subject to the full motor vehicle tax (MRB) rate for motorcycles. There is no reduced taxable-benefit percentage as there is for electric cars: you adjust the actual costs of private use. KIA depends on your qualifying annual investments and the exclusions. MIA/Vamil must be assessed separately against the current Environmental List and its conditions; do not assume that every electric motorcycle qualifies. Check the current road tax rate.

Alternative: keep motorbike private and ride business

Do you only use your motorcycle for business on the odd occasion? Then you can just keep it as a private asset. You then don't have to put anything on the balance sheet or calculate an addition for taxable use. Instead, you can deduct an allowance of €0.25 per kilometre from your profits for business journeys (2026 rate). See the official mileage allowance for 2026.

The €0.25 is a fixed amount that includes all costs, such as fuel, insurance and depreciation. You are therefore not allowed to claim separate costs as well. However, you must keep an accurate mileage log. Record the date, departure and destination addresses, number of kilometres and the business purpose for each trip. This can simply be done in a notebook or Excel file, as long as it is complete and verifiable. This allows you to prove how many business miles you drive and prevents you from getting into trouble during an audit.

Frequently Asked Questions