Paying travel allowances: what you need to know about it?

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Paying travel expenses is not only an opportunity to travel at the expense of the company, but also a responsibility that imposes a number of restrictions on the freedom of movement on the part of the employee. Some believe that free travel and a minimum of work is something to strive for when an employer assigns responsibility for tasks outside the city or country. How cool: you can relax and get a little bored at conferences. However, not everything is as it seemed at first glance.

What can be considered a business trip?

According to article 167 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, a business trip is a trip for a specified period at the expense of the employer to perform official duties outside the "walls" of the office. A prerequisite is crossing the border of the country, that is, traveling to another city is not a business trip. In this case, the days of departure and arrival are taken into account as mandatory for inclusion in this period of travel. The employee is left withoffice, but the schedule of work outside the country is not set by the sending company.

It is also allowed to consider as a business trip in exceptional cases those trips that require a trip to a neighboring city. This rule applies to those positions that do not involve constant needs to cross the border, for example, a taxi driver. He can travel out of town every day, but the time spent on the road there is not considered a business trip. The situation is different with officials who occupy jobs in offices, and sometimes they need to travel to another city to improve their skills and take courses. All expenses are borne by the employer, as this is within his competence, and the employee's right to refuse testing and study is preserved.

Additional travel differences

Traveling abroad involves some exceptions to the rules. They are mainly related to time and time costs. Suppose an employee is sent to another country, where he must stay for a week in order to have time to visit an exhibition or get acquainted with the new products of a supplier. The flight is delayed, and the employee is forced to stay in another country with his own money:

• Pay for a hotel room.
• Eat.
• Use transportation within the country/city.
• Have the necessary supplies for care and hygiene.

All expenses need to be supported by checks and receipts, so that later, after returning to work, to reinforce material support forrefund. If we are talking about a trip to another city, then the travel allowance is paid only partially - transport and food.

What exactly does the firm pay for?

The company bears all travel expenses of one or a group of employees. The price includes not only travel, accommodation, tickets and visits to certain museums or exhibitions. Travel allowance also includes mandatory payments:

• He alth insurance.
• Personal insurance.
• Payment for baggage and its insurance.
• Declaration of the claimed amount.
• Insurance premiums for car rental (if the employee does not have personal or company vehicles).

Weekends are also taken into account, since a person is forced to be on assignment outside of working hours in connection with an order to leave. Payment for business trips on weekends is calculated separately and reflected in the financial statements as one-time expenses or daily expenses. This is necessary so that a person can eat something and move around. The rest of the surplus (going to theaters, museums, cafes, restaurants, shopping) the employee provides for himself.

Procedure for payment of travel allowance: when is the money issued and returned?

First, an order should be issued to an employee who, in the opinion of superiors, is competent in matters that need to be resolved abroad. These must be officials who fulfill certain obligations and meet the selection criteria for the position. In other words, if an employee does not know a foreignlanguage, the authorities are obliged to pay him an interpreter, if necessary for negotiating with the inviting company. After reviewing the order, the employee signs it and receives an advance for ordering tickets and renting a hotel no later than 24 hours before departure.

Important! The advance must be 50% of the amount allocated for the trip. It must cover all expenses that are provided for during the stay abroad. Payment of daily travel expenses does not apply to cellular communications and mobile Internet traffic.

The remaining half of the amount will be used to recalculate the remaining expenses, which will be considered unforeseen or additional. The employee provides checks for them, and only upon arrival home can he count on compensation for losses. For example, a driver was provided who provides transportation. A separate travel allowance is allocated for him, associated with the repair of the machine, the replacement of parts, supplies and refueling. Another employee cannot claim reimbursement for transportation costs, as a transfer and a personal driver are provided.

Another case, if tickets were ordered, but the flight was delayed. The worker was urgently called back and had to buy bus tickets with his own money. Then the costs are reimbursed. When there is no money at all, the company sends it to the recipient's account in the fastest and most convenient way.

When is it beneficial for the traveler?

Traveling for work is not always associated with personal expenses. There iscases in which the sending party reimburses the cost of food, and the employee remains "in the black". This applies to the moments when the host party pays all food expenses within the hotel where the person is staying, or spent from personal money (the guest arrives at the house / apartment). At the same time, 50% of the costs provided for the citizen's food are returned to him without the need to present receipts for the purchase of food or prepared food in restaurants and cafes.

This is provided for by law, and is due to the fact that a person has the right to refuse food that is undesirable for him for he alth reasons. Therefore, he can buy something according to his taste and needs, but payment for travel days will be made in the manner prescribed by law. Sometimes expenses can be reimbursed by mutual agreement of the employee and the boss.

Paying travel allowances: travel and communications on weekends

If a person is forced to carry out work activities on weekends, for example, the conclusion of contracts or their signing, then mobile communications must be paid for. Such unforeseen but expected expenses may be partially or fully reimbursed by common agreement. In practice, it often happens that a business trip abroad may include not only a different time zone, but also days of the week or seasons.

1. If an employee was sent to the USA, where Sunday is considered a working day, then the expenses for the day will be reimbursed in 100% amount. However, nottrust should be neglected, because this will also have to be proven.
2. If the traveler is on his way to South Africa, then seasonality and the change of seasons are also taken into account. For example, “from winter to spring” to fly with suitcases of winter clothes is an additional load of changeable underwear for the warm season. The payment for luggage storage is divided in half if the parties agree: the employee does not take a lot of things - the manager pays, there is an excess due to the fault of the employee - the cost of it.

The same thing happens in other cases, when there are disagreements and controversial issues regarding costs. Sometimes the payment of travel days implies its exceptional occurrence through the fault of the company, but this fact should also be proved to the employee. It is important to take into account some other circumstances that affect the separation of obligations.

Wages

Does the boss have to pay wages while the employee is abroad? This is a controversial issue, since the employee is already carrying out his activities, receiving deductions. On the other hand, he spends his free time, which he could spend with his family or on vacation from work. And instead, he is forced to work on weekends, but only at the expense of deductions for the trip.

Since weekend travel allowance is only partial, you should pay the employee's man-hours, evaluating his contribution to the development of the company at the base rate according to the signed employment contract. The salary should not affect additional travel if it is in the best interests of the company, anda person is obliged to fulfill his powers. But the motive may be a mirror situation, when overtime on a business trip can affect the size of the lump sum. This means that the daily allowance, according to part 1 of Art. 168 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, are added to the salary rate.

What influences per diem allowance in different organizational structures?

Payment of daily travel allowance does not depend on the country and place of residence of the person. According to the decision of the Supreme Court No. CAS 05-151 of 26.04.2015, per diem expenses are covered in full until departure. If they were exceeded, then they are required to be reimbursed by management. These are "pocket expenses" necessary to perform work outside the permanent place of employment in connection with working moments or official assignments. It is worth noting that the money is paid from the general budget, which forms the state fund.

If an employee belongs to a budgetary organization, then it has a separate fund from which money comes for such expenses. We are talking about the Ministry of Internal Affairs - the social and medical aspects of this organization are fully provided by the state, having nothing to do with insurance funds and providing for citizens working in non-governmental positions.

Here, the payment of travel expenses in budgetary institutions depends entirely on the state type of management and supply of units. When it comes to military service, the deductions are somewhat higher than in non-state structures or private business firms. “Since the duty and task for the employee is the task of the country, then the expensescountry pays.”

Travel taxes

The following law applies for the current reporting period: there are no minimum and maximum limits for organizations, that is, each company can set its own payment limit to provide an employee for a day outside the workplace. However, if he leaves for a few hours, then the daily allowance is paid in full, since this is not a benefit, but a cost coverage.

Small businesses try to limit themselves to a daily allowance of 700 rubles, because the amount is not taxed in accordance with paragraph 3 of Art. 217 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Personal income tax will have to be withheld from the amount that makes up the difference in excess of the established minimum.

Important! If an employee is sent abroad, the tax-free limit is 2,500 rubles. Payment for travel expenses in a budgetary institution is carried out in exactly the same way.

Example of calculation of deductions from daily payments

Suppose that Mr. Petrov went on a business trip for 5 days, of which 2 days fell on the weekend. He is en titled to 1000 rubles for each day spent in another city, as decided by the authorities. Of these 5,000 rubles, the amount equal to 5700 \u003d 3,500 rubles is not taxed. The remaining one and a half thousand are subject to taxation and the payment of insurance premiums.

When traveling abroad for the same 5 days, a person receives 3,000 rubles per day. Of the 15,000 rubles, the amount of 2,500 rubles remains, which is subject to personal income tax andcontributions. In this case, in any case, the presentation of checks and receipts is not required.

What documents should be presented?

Immediately it is worth starting with transport - if you travel by private car, the accounting department issues a waybill where checks and receipts for payment of fuel and other consumables are issued. Tickets for planes, trains and buses should be kept until you return home. Passport with border crossing marks should also be photocopied for attachment to the waybill. For city trips within the country, you need to issue reports on assignment - this is a sheet that reflects the service list of obligations.

If the hotel was booked personally by an employee, then you should find out in advance if they have Forms No. 3-G for issuance to guests. Otherwise, accommodation will be at the expense of the employee, since KKM is not needed by such organizations. When issuing a memo (for budgetary organizations), you should additionally attach tickets with the date of departure and arrival. Payment of travel allowances on weekends may be forced if a local act is drawn up and an order in the T-9 form is signed. These documents take precedence over the laws that guide accountants. They must first be taken into account so as not to overpay travel compensation.

The main difference between budgetary and private enterprises is the mandatory provision of an employee who is "through the fault" of the leadership outside the country. It is important to do everything so that the employee can timely and carefullycomplete all tasks of the company. Private firms are rarely interested in such payments, since there is always additional documentation to be filled out and tax payments to be deducted. Therefore, check in advance everything that will be issued and signed in your name. Also find out which organizations outside the city or country issue the relevant documents. Sometimes it is quite difficult to get a ticket in public transport to prove the fact of a trip on official business.