Trucking accountant in London, Ontario
London, Ontario sits where the 401 toward Windsor and Detroit meets the 402 toward Sarnia and Port Huron, which makes it a natural base for carriers hauling parts, food and grain across the border and down the corridor. EverStone works with owner-operators and small fleets in London and the surrounding counties remotely, at fixed fees.
Quick answer: A London, Ontario carrier writes off tractors and trailers through capital cost allowance and keeps fuel and distance records by jurisdiction for IFTA and IRP. It claims long-haul meals against a logbook, and charges HST on domestic freight while cross-border moves are generally zero-rated. EverStone handles the books and returns for owner-operators and small fleets at a fixed fee. Published fees start at $300 a month for bookkeeping and $100 for a personal return.
Tractors and trailers are the balance sheet
For most carriers, the equipment is the business. A tractor, a reefer, a flatbed or a set of dry vans is a capital purchase written off through capital cost allowance, with a reduced claim in the year the unit goes into service. It has to be available for use before any claim starts, so a truck delivered on December 30 but not plated and on the road may not produce the deduction you planned for. Financing interest is deductible as it accrues; lease payments are deducted as they are made, which gives a different pattern for the same unit. Choosing between them is a cash-flow decision as much as a tax one. CCA classes sets out how the pools work.
Selling or trading a unit
Trading in a tractor is a disposal. The trade value comes off the pool, and if more depreciation has been claimed than the truck actually lost, the difference comes back into income as recapture in the year of the trade. When the last unit in a pool is sold for less than its remaining balance, the shortfall is a terminal loss you can deduct. A strong used-truck market can turn a routine trade into a tax bill, so the trade is worth running past the numbers before the dealer finalises it.
IFTA, IRP and records by jurisdiction
A carrier running into Michigan, Ohio or other provinces files quarterly fuel tax returns under the International Fuel Tax Agreement and registers its units under the International Registration Plan. Both are built on the same records: kilometres driven in each jurisdiction and fuel bought in each one. Electronic logging devices capture most of the distance data, but the fuel receipts, trip sheets and odometer readings have to agree with it. Those records also support the fuel and repair deductions on the tax return and the input tax credits on the HST return, so one clean set serves every filing.
Long-haul meals and the logbook
Drivers who are away overnight on trips that meet the CRA’s long-haul conditions can claim a larger share of meal costs than the ordinary business rule allows. Self-employed drivers and owner-operators claim through the business; employed drivers claim with a form their employer signs. Either way, a flat per-meal amount can be used instead of receipts under the simplified method, but the trips still have to be proven with a logbook showing departure, destination and time away. Truck driver meal claims covers what qualifies.
Owner-operator or company: what the structure changes
An owner-operator leased to a larger carrier is running a business, and the arrangement is regularly tested: whose truck it is, who chooses the loads, who carries the risk of a slow month. Incorporating can make sense once profit exceeds what the household needs, but an incorporated driver working for a single carrier on the carrier’s terms can be treated as a personal services business, which removes most of the benefit. A small fleet with employee drivers takes on payroll, drivers paid by the kilometre or by the load, and eventually Employer Health Tax. See the personal services business risk assessment and payroll in London.
HST on freight across the border
Domestic freight carries HST at the rate of the province where the supply is made — 13% for a load that stays in Ontario — and the HST on fuel, repairs, tires and the tractor itself comes back as input tax credits. A continuous freight movement that crosses into the United States is generally zero-rated, so a carrier with mostly cross-border work often sits in a refund position. The invoices and bills of lading need to show where each load started and ended for that treatment to hold up. See HST place of supply rules.
What EverStone handles for you
One CPA and one fixed fee, agreed before work starts. See what it costs.
- Tractor and trailer CCA, trades, recapture and terminal losses
- Distance and fuel records reconciled for IFTA and IRP
- Long-haul meal claims supported by the logbook
- HST returns with domestic and cross-border freight separated
- Driver payroll, remittances and T4s
- T1 for owner-operators or T2 and statements for a fleet
Prepared and reviewed by a Chartered Professional Accountant at EverStone CPA, an Abbotsford CPA firm working with small businesses and incorporated contractors across the Fraser Valley and Canada. Updated September 2026. About the firm · Book a free consult
What an owner-operator has to get right
| Item | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Tractors and trailers | Written off through CCA; trades can bring recapture |
| Fuel and distance records | Support IFTA, IRP, the fuel deduction and HST credits at once |
| Meals on the road | Long-haul trips have their own rules and need a logbook |
| Owner-operator status | How the lease is structured is regularly tested by the CRA |
| Sales tax where you operate | 13% HST, a single registration and a single return |
Source: Trucking and logistics accounting. General information, not advice.
London accounting for trucking and transport operators FAQ
Should I buy or lease my next tractor?+
What records do I need for IFTA?+
Can I claim meals without receipts?+
Should an owner-operator incorporate?+
Do I charge HST on a load to Detroit?+
How long do I keep logbooks and fuel receipts?+
My truck was in the shop for a month. What can I deduct?+
Do you work with carriers outside London?+
Do you work with businesses outside London itself?+
Related services and local guides
Nearby cities, the rest of what we do for London businesses, and the reference pages behind this one.
Running trucks out of London, Ontario?
Tractor and trailer CCA, fuel tax records, meal claims and the corporate return handled by one CPA. Fixed fee, fully online.
Remote accounting for trucking from Abbotsford
EverStone is a sole practitioner CPA firm at 32615 South Fraser Way in Abbotsford, itself a trucking town on a freight corridor, serving London, Ontario carriers and owner-operators entirely online. There is no London office and no local staff. Settlement statements, fuel reports and logbooks come through a secure upload link, and calls are booked around dispatch rather than during a run.
Talk to a CPA about this
One Chartered Professional Accountant, start to finish. Fixed fees, quoted in writing before any work begins, and no obligation from a first conversation.
