Updated · Odoma Digipädevuse Selts
Lunch breaks and short stops in the mileage log: what is business, what is personal
For employees, board members, employers and accountants whose work moves between sites. Based on the Estonian Tax and Customs Board's reply to Odoma's enquiry (27.10.2026).
In renovation, finishing, construction and maintenance work people drive between several sites a day, and a trip is often broken for other reasons too: a quick stop at a shop, lunch, fuel. The mileage log (sõidupäevik) has to show the date and purpose of every business trip, but Regulation No. 164 does not say where a trip begins and ends or what to do with a stop on the way. If the stop is personal, does the drive to it become personal as well? Odoma put the question to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board (Maksu- ja Tolliamet, EMTA). Below is the Board's view on three typical cases and what it means for the log.
In short
- A short stop on the way (site → shop → base). According to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board, it can be recorded as one business trip with a stop, provided the trip starts and ends at work-related points and the stop does not change its main purpose.
- Lunch between two sites (site A → lunch place → site B). The business trip is at least the direct route A → B; the detour to the lunch place is the personal part.
- Site → lunch → the same site. As a rule, the whole trip is personal.
- Employee or board member — no difference.
- The law sets no numeric limits. The minutes and kilometres an employer sets are its internal policy, not a legal requirement.
What the law says and what it does not
Personal car compensation rests on the Income Tax Act, § 13(3)(2): compensation for a personal car used in performing official or work duties, up to €0.50 per kilometre and up to €550 per calendar month. Under Regulation No. 164 the log shows the date and purpose of every business trip and the odometer reading at its start and end.
Neither defines where a trip begins and ends, and neither has rules on stops or lunch breaks. So, according to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board, what decides is not whether there was a stop, but whether the trip was made to perform work duties and in the employer's interest. The circumstances are assessed as a whole, and the employer must be able to justify its choice.
Three cases at a glance
| Case | The Board's view | In the log |
|---|---|---|
| Site → shop → base | One business trip with a stop | One row; purpose e.g. "Objektilt baasi, vahepeatus" (site to base, stop) |
| Site A → lunch → site B | Business at least for the direct route A → B; the detour is personal | Business km by the direct route, the rest personal |
| Site → lunch → the same site | As a rule, a personal trip | The whole trip personal |
1. A short stop on the way: site → shop → base
Example (hypothetical). An employee finishes the day on site, drives to the base and stops for 15 minutes at a shop near the base. Site to shop is 18 km, shop to base 2 km. Is that two trips — site → shop and shop → base — or one?
According to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board, it is justified to treat this as one work trip with a stop rather than two separate trips, if the real purpose was to get from the site to the base or to another site and the stop was incidental and temporary. The Board names four conditions:
- the trip's start and end points are connected with work duties;
- the stop does not change the trip's main purpose;
- the circumstances of the stop can be identified from the log;
- the employer is able to assess the specific case.
Why it matters: if the trip is cut in two at the stop and the stop is personal, the drive to it may become personal as well — in the example, 18 km that were in fact driven from the site to the base. As one row, the log shows a trip from the site to the base (20 km), and the stop is visible in the purpose.
2. Lunch between two sites: A → lunch place → B
The Estonian Tax and Customs Board called this question more complex, because there are two sides to it. On the one hand, under the Employment Contracts Act (TLS § 47) a lunch break is not working time, and going to lunch mainly serves the employee's personal needs. On the other, getting from site A to site B is in substance connected with work duties, and a lunch place in between does not automatically make the whole route personal.
According to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board, the most defensible approach is:
- at least the direct route between site A and site B counts as a business trip;
- the detour for lunch is the personal part;
- the compensated kilometres should not exceed a reasonable A → B distance.
Example (hypothetical). The direct route from site A to site B is 12 km.
| Variant | Total driven | Business | Personal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lunch place on the way: A → café 5 km, café → B 7 km | 12 km | 12 km | 0 km |
| Lunch place off the route: A → café 8 km, café → B 10 km | 18 km | 12 km | 6 km |
Choosing a café further away therefore does not add compensated kilometres. Exactly how this appears in the log is for the employer's own rules; what matters is that the direct route and the detour can be told apart and the odometer readings reconcile with the distance driven.
3. Site → lunch → the same site
When an employee leaves a site for lunch and returns to the same site, the trip's main purpose, according to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board, is the employee's personal need — a meal. It is therefore justified to treat the whole trip as personal, both there and back.
Example (hypothetical). An employee drives from a site to a café 4 km away and back: 8 km, all personal. Those kilometres are not compensated; in the log the trip is either left out or clearly marked as personal.
Employee or board member — no difference
The Income Tax Act, § 13(3)(2), allows the compensation to be paid both to an employee and to a member of a management or supervisory body, and Regulation No. 164 applies to both. According to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board, in the cases described it makes no material difference whether the driver is an employee or a board member.
The figures are employer policy, not law
To have similar trips handled the same way, an employer may set numeric limits in its own rules. In its enquiry Odoma proposed, for example, these:
| Case | Example of internal policy |
|---|---|
| Short stop on the way | The stop lasts up to 45 minutes; it is near the start or end of the route (one leg at least three times as long as the other); the route's ends are a site, a supply point or the base. |
| Lunch between two sites | Lunch lasts up to 60 minutes; the business trip is the direct route A → B plus a detour of up to 50 % of the direct route, but no more than 5 km and no less than 2 km; the rest is personal. |
| Site → lunch → the same site | The whole trip is personal. |
According to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board, the 50 % limit, the 5 km limit and the 2 km minimum do not follow from legislation. They may be used as internal policy, but they cannot be presented as limits that follow from the law. The Board considered the "direct route plus a limited detour" approach rather conservative than aggressive in terms of tax risk, since it does not let anyone be compensated for driving a longer loop.
The most cautious option is to compensate only the direct route when there is a lunch break. If you allow a small detour, write the limit down and apply it to everyone in the same way.
What the employer should do
- Put the rules in writing. The employer may set the rules for keeping the log and paying the compensation. The wording of an order clause suggested by the Estonian Tax and Customs Board is in the employer guide. An order cannot, however, turn a personal trip into a business one.
- Ask for a clear purpose. The log has to show why the trip was made and which work task it was connected with; a bare "töösõit" (work trip) may prove too general in an audit — see Trip purpose in the sõidupäevik.
- Review trips with stops before paying the compensation, and keep a record of what the decision was based on.
Odoma Tracker and stops
Odoma Tracker records trips automatically. At a longer stop — at a shop or a café, say — the trip ends in the app and a new one starts from the stop. Every trip can be marked as business or personal, and a business trip can be given a purpose; business trips without a purpose are marked ¹ in the PDF mileage log. The app does not merge trips with a stop into one business trip by itself, nor does it work out the direct route for a lunch break: such trips are worth reviewing yourself or, if the company uses the Odoma dashboard, by the employer when approving trips.
FAQ
Does a short stop at a shop make the trip personal? According to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board, not if the real purpose of the trip was to get from the site to the base or to another site and the stop was incidental and temporary. The trip can then be recorded as one business trip with a stop. Its start and end must be connected with work duties, and the stop must be visible in the log.
Is driving to lunch between two sites a business trip? Partly. According to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board, at least the direct route from site A to site B counts as a business trip, the detour to the lunch place is the personal part, and the compensated kilometres should not exceed a reasonable A → B distance.
Is driving from a site to lunch and back to the same site a business trip? As a rule, no. According to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board, the main purpose of such a trip is the employee's personal need, so it is justified to treat the whole trip as personal.
Are 45 minutes, 50 % or 5 km written into the law? No. Neither the Income Tax Act nor Regulation No. 164 gives any figures for stops. According to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board, such limits may be used as the employer's internal policy, but they cannot be presented as limits that follow from the law.
Does the same apply to a board member? Yes. According to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board, in these cases it makes no material difference whether the driver is an employee or a board member: the Income Tax Act, § 13(3)(2), and Regulation No. 164 apply to both.
Can an employer state in its order that lunch trips are business trips? The employer may set the rules for keeping the log and paying the compensation, but according to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board an order cannot turn a personal trip into a business one. A wording that ties the business trip to a work task and to the trip's main purpose is more defensible; the clause suggested by the Board is in the employer guide.
Sources
- Maksu- ja Tolliameti vastus Odoma päringule, 27.10.2026 (the Estonian Tax and Customs Board's reply to Odoma's enquiry). It is a clarification, not a binding advance ruling (siduv eelotsus).
- Riigi Teataja — Regulation No. 164 on record-keeping and compensation for the use of a personal car
- Riigi Teataja — Tulumaksuseadus (Income Tax Act)
- EMTA — Compensation for the use of personal cars
- Töölepingu seadus (Employment Contracts Act), § 47 — a break is not working time
Legal disclaimer
This document is prepared by Odoma Digipädevuse Selts (registry code 80659718) for general user information. It is not legal, accounting, or tax advice. The Estonian Tax and Customs Board's view was given on a general enquiry from Odoma; for a specific trip, the circumstances taken as a whole decide. For disputes or material questions, contact:
- Maksu- ja Tolliamet (EMTA) — the official regulator. Site: emta.ee, business-client helpline.
- A licensed accountant — for individual recommendations on your situation (wording of the order, contested trips).
Odoma Digipädevuse Selts assumes no responsibility for decisions made on the basis of this text.
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