Boylan & Dodd Travel & Subsistence



Please choose from the following list:- | ** The amounts below are in Euros ** |


Background to Travel & Subsistence Expenditure
Expenses which have been incurred by an employee "wholly, exclusively and necessarily" in the performance of the duties of employment can be refunded by the employer without any deduction of income tax.

So, for example, you're working in the office and you run out of biros...you go to the newsagent and buy some out of your own money...and you get refunded in full by your employer.

It is from this principle that the legitimacy of travel and subsistence expenditure arises.

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When does Travel & Subsistence expenditure arise?
Travel & Subsistence expenditure arises where an employee performs the duties of employment while temporarily away from the normal place of employment. It therefore consists of:-
  • Mileage expenses
  • Day and Night Allowances

The "normal place of employment" is the place where the employee normally performs the duties of employment.

The employer's business premises is taken to be the "normal place of employment" where either

  • Travel is an integral part of the job, for example, the employee is required to meet clients daily
OR
  • the duties of employment are performed at the customer's premises BUT substantive duties are also carried out at the employers business premises

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What are acceptable flat rate allowances?
There are two types of scheme in existence which you can use to claim travel & subsistence expenses:-
  1. Prevailing civil service rates OR any rates not greater than the civil service rates.

    In these cases, Revenue approval is not required. However, you must notify the tax office that you are using one of these schemes.
  2. You're own schedule of rates. In this case, you must obtain Revenue approval.

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So what are the civil service mileage rates?

To calculate your mileage claim, multiply the number of miles from your normal place of employment to the place to where you are required to perform the duties of your employment by the appropriate mileage rate.
However, where the business journey commences from home, any mileage expenses would be based on the lesser of the miles actually travelled and the miles which would have been travelled had the journey commenced at the normal place of work.

The civil service mileage rates are based on the engine capacity of your car and your annual business mileage.
Civil Service Mileage Rates
We have decided that the best way of getting this info to you is to link into the Department of Finance web site.

At the time of writing, the most recent circulars we could find on the site were as follows:-

We can give no guarantee that the link provided here is the most up to date series of rates, so if you are not comfortable with using those rates (as you feel they may be out of date), simply contact the Department via their web site and ask them to tell you what the most up to date rates are.

As always, our main purpose in this web site is to hopefully point you in the right direction concerning the tax system in Ireland rather than offering all tax data.


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So what are the civil service night allowances?

The civil service overnight allowances apply when you spend a period of 24 hours from the time of departure away from the normal place of employment.

With regard to the following rates, please note the following:-

  • The "Normal" rate is payable for an absence up to 14 nights.
  • The "Reduced" rate is payable for each of the next 14 nights.
  • The "Detention" rate is payable for each of the next 28 nights.
  • If the absence is over 56 nights, then you should contact your local tax office.
  • The period of subsistence at any one location is limited to six months.
Here are the new rates, which have been backdated to take effect from 1 January 1999:-

Civil Service Overnight and Day Subsistence Rates
As with mileage allowances, we have decided that the best way of getting this info to you is to link into the Department of Finance web site.

At the time of writing, the most recent circulars we could find on the site were as follows:-

The document above does not specify what the grades A, B and C mean. Older levels supplied to us by the Department were as follows (*nb* these are out of date, but would represent a safe level for Grades A, B and C).

A: > €38,285
B: > €21,639
C: > €18,656

If you are going to use your own levels of rates, remember to write to the Revenue Commissioners informing them of your scale.

We can give no guarantee that the link provided here is the most up to date series of rates, so if you are not comfortable with using those rates (as you feel they may be out of date), simply contact the Department via their web site and ask them to tell you what the most up to date rates are.

As always, our main purpose in this web site is to hopefully point you in the right direction concerning the tax system in Ireland rather than offering all tax data.

"Teamworkers" Note: Where employees are working as part of a team and it is necessary for junior team members to stay in the same accommodation as senior team members who are entitled to a higher rate of subsistence, then these higher rates will also apply to the junior team members.


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So what are the civil service day allowances?
Day allowances may be paid for periods away from the normal place of work which do not involve an overnight stay. The rates are dependent on the duration of time spent away and the employee's salary.

Please note that the place of absence must be more than five miles from the employees' normal place of work.

Please see the table above for day allowances.


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What records do we need to keep?
Where expenses are re-imbursed by way of flat rate allowances (e.g. the civil service rates), the following points are relevant:-
  • a precise record of actual subsistence expenses is not required
  • Keep a record of the following for each absence from the normal place of work:-
    1. the date(s) and duration of the absence
    2. the reason for the absence
    3. the location involved
  • for mileage claims, keep an internal record of the exact mileage claimed, the various locations involved, and the purpose of the trip.

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