Expense Claims For Foreign Travel - New Rules

Expense Claims for Foreign Travel - New Rules

HM Revenue and Customs have published a new set of tables setting out benchmark scales for the claiming of accommodation and subsistence expenses for employees travelling abroad.

These include:

• a 'room rate' per night;
• a 'subsistence only rate', intended to cover the total cost of meals in a period of 24 hours, plus the cost of daily travel between the employee's hotel and office;
• a '24 hour rate'. This is the sum of the 'room rate' and the 'subsistence only rate';
• an 'over 10 hour rate', which is intended to cover subsistence expenses for any period of more than 10 but fewer than 24 hours; and
• an 'over 5 hour rate', which is intended to cover subsistence expenses for any period of more than 5 but fewer than 10 hours.

For areas where benchmark rates are not available, employers may reimburse their employees' actual accommodation and subsistence expenses, plus £4 per day to cover hotel-to-office travelling expenses.

The tables do not provide benchmark rates for other allowable expenditure that employees may incur en route - such as taxi fares. This may be claimed in addition to paying the benchmark rates.

The guide can be found at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/eimanual/eim05255.htm