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Hi,

I've used my tralier to pick up some woodchips for a garden co-op. If the IRD 74cents a km is a reasonable starting point for my car, what should I add for a) the empty tralier and b) the fully laden trailer?

Car is 2litre petrol, tralier is 8' * 4 1/2' single axle.

Thanks

The IRD are generous in allowing 0.74c for any car. Our calculations conclude that a 2.0 litre car costs 0.69c per km to operate, for a 3 year old vehicle. Given that depreciation is the biggest factor to running a car, the older the vehicle gets, the more depreciation reduces so the lower the running cost.
However, assuming your car is only 3 years old, the rate you are getting from IRD could be about right in real terms. Having said that, we are not tax experts, so you might need to seek advice from an accountant to calculate depreciation, R&M etc on your trailer. Sorry we can't be of more help.