T4 Code 34 — Personal use of employer's automobile

What Code 34 means

Code 34 reports the taxable benefit from having an employer-provided vehicle available for personal use. It has two components: the standby charge (deemed availability) and the operating-expense benefit (gas, maintenance paid by employer).

The standby charge is generally 2% of the vehicle's cost per 30-day period available, or 2/3 of the lease cost per month. The reduced standby charge applies only if all three conditions are met: your employer required you to use the vehicle in your duties, more than 50% of the total distance driven was business driving, and your personal driving stayed within 1,667 km per 30-day period (20,004 km in the year). Note the 20,004 km is a ceiling on personal kilometres, not a business-driving target.

The operating-expense benefit is 34 cents per personal-use kilometre for 2025 and 2026 (up from 33 cents in 2024 — the Department of Finance announces the rate annually each December; a lower rate applies if your job is selling or leasing automobiles). Instead of the per-kilometre rate, the benefit can be calculated as half the standby charge under CRA's optional calculation, but only where a standby charge is already in your income, you used the vehicle more than 50% for employment, and you told your employer in writing before the end of the year that you wanted that method.

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