Depending on the nature of your business, your employees may be able to make a travel expenses claim. A business trip may bring with it unexpected difficulties around what exactly employees can claim. For instance, can your staff member claim for meals, overnight hotel stays, or a taxi trip? This guide explains your legal position once your staff members return to your office with a bundle of receipts.
Defining work travel expenses (Ireland)
Revenue guidelines oversee the treatment of employee travel expenses. Claiming travel to work expenses is only available to employees who work away from their normal place of work. The normal place of work is where your employee works on a day to day basis. Travel to and from the employee’s normal place of work is your employee's own private travel and not deemed to be a qualifying business journey. When your employee travels from one place of work to another place of work as part of their duties, this is a business journey. This includes:
- travel between Ireland and other countries
- travel to a place that is not their normal place of work (a client premises for instance).
After they incur expenses on business journeys, you can pay them back to an employee once they return.
Claiming travel expenses for work
If your employee is off on a business trip, what can they claim? Here’s a list of a few common expenses.
- Accommodation.
- Meals.
- Parking fees.
- Vehicle hire.
- Toll charges on motorways (and congestion).
- Any business-related calls.
Remember that the repayment of expenses to staff members attracts certain tax and reporting duties. It is vital to keep records that will stand up under the scrutiny of a Revenue audit. For tax reasons, most employers choose to repay expenses under a subsistence allowance (Ireland) at the level set out in the relevant schedule of Civil Service rates. It’s advisable that you draw up a travel expenses policy to explain what you will, and won’t, pay for during trips. In the policy, you can also set a travel allowance for employees they can refer to whenever they need to head off on a trip.
Mileage allowance (Ireland)
You should also be aware of mileage expenses, which you pay to staff members based on the amount of miles they have driven. Employee mileage allowance varies in line with the Civil Service motoring and bicycle rates set by the Revenue. You can make reimbursements to employees through either the current schedule of Civil Service rates or by repaying the actual cost at a rate not higher than the current Civil Service rates.
Need more help?
If you require further assistance with travel expenses, you can call us today on 0818 923 923.
