Trip sheet 2026: free downloadable template (PDF, Word, Excel)

In short: you can download a free trip sheet template below in PDF, Word or Excel format, ready to fill in. The trip sheet is mandatory for legal entities that own vehicles, under Art. 27(2) of the Implementing Regulation of the Romanian Highway Code, and for tax purposes it is the document you use to justify full deduction of vehicle-related expenses and VAT. The law does not require a standard form, but it does require minimum content — which you’ll find below.

When a trip sheet is mandatory

This is where the most common confusion arises. There are two separate obligations, with different legal bases and different consequences — one under road traffic law and one under tax law. They do not fully overlap.

1. The road traffic obligation: it applies to all companies with vehicles

The Implementing Regulation of Emergency Ordinance No. 195/2002 on traffic on public roads, approved by Government Decision No. 1391/2006, provides in Art. 27(2) that legal entities that own vehicles have, among others, the following obligations:

• letter a) — to check the technical condition of the vehicles, to record it in the trip sheet or service order and not to allow vehicles that do not meet the technical requirements onto the road;
• letter b) — to issue a trip sheet or service order for vehicles going out on a trip;
• letter e) — to take into account the remarks made by police officers or drivers in the trip sheet.

Two points that matter: the obligation lies with the legal entity, not the individual, and the law accepts the “service order” alternative. You are not required to use a document called exactly “trip sheet,” but one of the two must exist.

2. The tax obligation: it only arises if you want full deduction

Here is the nuance most sources miss. The Methodological Norms for applying the Tax Code, approved by Government Decision No. 1/2016, provide that, to exercise the right to deduct VAT, “any taxable person must hold the documents required by law for deducting VAT and must draw up the trip sheet” — where the vehicle is used exclusively for business purposes and the 50% deduction limit does not apply.

The practical consequence: if the company opts for the deduction limited to 50%, this tax obligation to draw up trip sheets does not arise for those vehicles. The road traffic obligation in point 1 still applies, however, as it has nothing to do with the deductibility regime.

In other words: the trip sheet is not “imposed by the Tax Code” on everyone; it is the price of full deduction. Whoever gives it up gives up half of the deduction.

What a trip sheet must contain

There is no standard form required by law — you can use any template, including the one above. There is, however, a mandatory minimum content, listed explicitly in the Tax Code norms:

In practice, a complete trip sheet also contains:

• The company name and identification details;
• The driver’s name and license number;
• The date of issue and the period it covers;
• The vehicle’s technical condition at departure and arrival — expressly required by Art. 27(2)(a);
• The date and time of departure and arrival;
• The fuel in the tank at the beginning and end of the period, plus refueling along the way;
• Signatures: the person issuing the document and the driver;
• Space for remarks by police officers or the driver — which the company is required to take into account, under letter e).

How to fill in a trip sheet, step by step

1. Before departure — the company fills in the header: company, vehicle, driver, date. The technical condition is checked and the corresponding entry is made;
2. At departure — the odometer reading, fuel in the tank, date and time are recorded;
3. During the trip — the destinations, the purpose of each trip and refueling are entered, with the corresponding receipts;
4. On arrival — odometer reading, remaining fuel, date and time; the kilometers driven and actual consumption are calculated;
5. At handover — signatures and, where applicable, the driver’s remarks on the technical condition.

The document is archived together with the fuel receipts, because the two are checked together: the actual consumption based on kilometers is compared with the company’s consumption standard and with the documented refueling. An unexplained difference between them is exactly what a tax inspector looks for.

Electronic and GPS-generated trip sheets

The law does not require a printed form. Electronic documents are accepted, as long as they contain the required information and can be made available during an inspection. This opens up the most practical option for a fleet: automatically generating trip sheets from monitoring data.

The advantage isn’t just saving time. Manually entered data are estimates written from memory at the end of the day; GPS data are recorded as things happen:

• Kilometers driven — read from the actual route, not estimated;
• Departure and arrival times — the moment the vehicle enters and leaves the loading or unloading site;
• Place of the trip — the full route, with stops;
• Consumption — measured via CAN bus or a fuel level sensor, directly comparable with the company’s standard and the fuel receipts.

With the CargoTrack GPS monitoring system , this data is collected automatically, and the reports module turns it into documents ready for archiving, by vehicle and by period. For companies that also track consumption, the fuel module closes the loop between kilometers, consumption standard and refueling. Contact the CargoTrack team to see what a report looks like for your fleet.

Common mistakes that cost you during an inspection

• Missing company consumption standard — it is one of the four items expressly required by the Tax Code norms, yet the one most often left out;
• A generic “purpose of the trip” — “business trip” proves nothing. The purpose must be specific and verifiable;
• Rounded kilometersthat don’t match the vehicle’s actual odometer reading or the refueling;
• Sheets filled in after the fact, all in the same handwriting and with the same pen — the classic red flag for an inspector;
• Missing entry on the technical condition, even though it is explicitly required by Art. 27(2)(a);
• Confusing the trip sheet with the goods transport document — they are different things. For goods, you need the CMR consignment note, which has its own legal regime.

Trip sheet FAQ

Is a trip sheet mandatory?

Yes, for legal entities that own vehicles. Art. 27(2)(b) of the Implementing Regulation of Emergency Ordinance No. 195/2002, approved by Government Decision No. 1391/2006, requires them to issue a trip sheet or service order for vehicles going out on a trip. Separately, for tax purposes, the trip sheet is the document used to justify full deduction of expenses and VAT.

Is there an official trip sheet template required by law?

No. The law does not require a standard form, so you can use any template, including the one you can download from this page in PDF, Word or Excel format. The law does, however, require minimum content, not a specific form.

What information must a trip sheet contain?

The Methodological Norms for applying the Tax Code require at least four items: the category of vehicle used, the purpose and place of the trip, the kilometers driven and the company-set fuel consumption standard per kilometer driven. The Highway Code adds the entry on the vehicle’s technical condition.

Do companies that deduct 50% still need trip sheets?

From a tax standpoint, no: the obligation to draw up a trip sheet arises when full deduction is sought, by proving exclusive use for business purposes. The road traffic obligation under Art. 27(2) of the Highway Code Regulation still applies, however, regardless of the deductibility regime chosen.

Who fills in the trip sheet?

The company issues it and fills in the identification details and the technical condition entry, and the driver fills in the trip data: odometer at departure and arrival, times, destinations, refueling. Both sign, and remarks by the driver or police officers are also recorded in the document.

Are electronic trip sheets accepted?

Yes, the law does not require a printed form. An electronic document is valid if it includes the required information and can be made available during an inspection. Trip sheets can be generated automatically from the data of a GPS monitoring system, which records kilometers, times and the route as they happen.

What happens if you don’t have a trip sheet?

For tax purposes, you risk inspectors deeming the vehicle’s exclusive business use unjustified, which means losing full deduction of expenses and VAT. Under road traffic law, failure to meet the obligations of Art. 27(2) of the Regulation makes the legal entity that owns the vehicle liable.

Is a trip sheet the same as a CMR?

No. The trip sheet concerns the vehicle and the trip; it is an internal company document with a road traffic and tax role. The CMR consignment note concerns the goods and the contract of carriage, serving as evidence of the relationship between sender, carrier and consignee. The two are drawn up separately and do not replace each other.

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