EIM05260 - Employment income: scale rate expenses payments: accommodation and subsistence payments to employees travelling outside the UK: tables of overseas scale rates: how to use the overseas scale rates

Employers may use the individual meal rates or the hourly rates, but should not pay both for the same journey.

So, for employees who are away overnight, the employer may decide to pay the “24-hour” rate for each complete period of 24 hours, starting from the time when the employee arrives at the destination airport, or train station, and ending when they leave the country in question.

Alternatively, the employer may prefer to pay the room rate plus individual amounts for the meals and other expenses that the employee has incurred. Either method is acceptable, but employers should not pay hourly rates and individual meal amounts for the same journey.

For any period (or residual period) of less than 24 hours, the employer may use:

  • the room rate (if the period includes an overnight stay), plus
  • the over 5-hour rate or the over 10 hour-rate, as appropriate

The over 5-hour rate applies to a period of more than 5 hours but less than 10 hours. The 10-hour rate applies to a period of more than 10 hours but less than 24 hours.

Here again, instead of paying the over 5-hour and over 10-hour rates, the employer may prefer to pay the room rate (if the period includes an overnight stay) plus individual amounts for the meals and other expenses that the employee has incurred.

See example 1.

Employers are not bound to use the overseas room rate. Some employers may prefer to pay for accommodation and subsistence separately, perhaps reimbursing (or paying for) their employees’ actual, “room only” accommodation expenses, or paying a lower scale rate for accommodation. Such employers may then use the overseas scale rates to pay tax/NICs free subsistence expense using the over 5-hour, over 10-hour and total residual rates or, if they prefer, the separate amounts for meals, etc.

See examples 2 and 3.

Separate rules apply if an employee: