EIM05280 - Employment income: scale rate expenses payments: accommodation and subsistence payments to employees travelling outside the UK: tables of overseas scale rates: examples
The following examples show how employers may use the HMRC published rates to reimburse employees’ accommodation and subsistence expenses for travel outside the UK.
Example 1
An employee on a business trip to Switzerland arrives in Geneva at 3pm on Monday and books into a hotel in the city. He checks out after breakfast on Thursday and leaves on the 9am flight. The employer may reimburse the employee as follows.
| Period and rates | Amount |
|---|---|
| 2 × 24 hour rate (3pm Monday to 3pm Wednesday) | 726 Swiss Francs |
| Wednesday night (room rate) | 207.5 Swiss Francs |
| 10-hour rate (3pm Wednesday to 9am Thursday) | 117.5 Swiss Francs |
| Total | 1051 Swiss Francs |
(Note that payment for the 18-hour period from 3pm on Wednesday to 9am on Thursday is limited to the room rate (207.5 Swiss Francs) plus the 10-hour rate (117.5 Swiss Francs).)
Alternatively, if the employer pays for the hotel room direct, or chooses to reimburse the employee’s actual (room only) accommodation expenses, they may use the benchmark rates to pay tax/NICs free subsistence expenses as follows.
| Period and rates | Amount |
|---|---|
| 2 × total residual rate (3pm Monday to 3pm Wednesday) | 311 Swiss Francs |
| 10-hour rate (3am Wednesday to 9am Thursday) | 117.5 Swiss Francs |
| Total | 429 Swiss Francs |
In either case, the employer may choose to reimburse the employee’s subsistence expenses using the individual meal rates in place of the over 10-hour and 24-hour rates.
Example 2
An employer pays for an employee on a business trip to Canada to stay at a hotel in Toronto for 2 nights on a room only basis. The hotel bills the employer direct for the room charge. The employee arrives in Canada at 3pm on Monday and leaves on the 9am flight on Wednesday. The employer may reimburse the employee’s subsistence expenses as follows.
| Period and rates | Amount |
|---|---|
| 1 × total residual rate (3pm Monday to 3pm Tuesday) | 151.5 Canadian $ |
| 10-hour rate (3pm Tuesday to 9am Wednesday) | 118 Canadian $ |
| Total | 270 Canadian $ |
Alternatively, the employer may choose to reimburse the employee’s subsistence expenses using the individual meal rates in place of the over 10-hour and total residual rates.
Example 3
An employee spends a day in Belgium on business, arriving in Brussels at 9am and leaving at 8pm. The employer may reimburse subsistence expenses at the Brussels rate for over 10 hours: 71 euros.
If the employee had left Brussels between 2pm and 7pm, reimbursement would have been limited to the over 5-hour rate: 27 euros.
Alternatively, the employer may choose to reimburse the employee’s subsistence expenses using the individual meal rates in place of the over 5-hour or over 10-hour rates.
Example 4
An employee makes a business trip to Madrid, where she stays for 2 nights as the guest of a friend. Meals are provided free of charge, except for 2 lunches which the employee has to buy while she is in the city on business. The employer may reimburse:
2 × 10% of Madrid total residual rate (114.5 euros) = 23 euros
The employer may also reimburse the cost of the 2 lunches that the employee had to pay for. They may reimburse the employee’s actual expenses, or they may use the Madrid lunch rate (29.5 euros).
Example 5
An employee travels on business to Orlando, Florida, where he stays for 3 days as the guest of a business client. All accommodation and meals are provided by the host company. The employer may reimburse:
3 × 10% of subsistence only rate for Florida (US$98.5) = US$29.55 (say US$30)
Example 6
An employee on a business trip to Switzerland arrives in Geneva at 3pm on Monday and books into a hotel in the city. He pays for all his own meals except dinner on Wednesday, when the host pays. He checks out after breakfast on Thursday and leaves on the 9am flight. The employer may reimburse the employee as follows.
| Period and rates | Amount |
|---|---|
| 2 × 24 hour rate (3pm Monday to 3pm Wednesday) | 726 Swiss Francs |
| Wednesday night (room rate) | 207.5 Swiss Francs |
| 10-hour rate (3pm Wednesday to 9am Thursday) 117.5 Swiss Francs less dinner rate 69 Swiss Francs | 48.5 Swiss Francs |
| Total | 982 Swiss Francs |
See EIM05270.
Example 7
An employee makes a business trip to Berlin, where he stays for 10 days in a company-owned flat on a self-catering basis. The employer may reimburse:
| Period and rates | Amount |
|---|---|
| 7 days × 80% of Berlin total residual rate (72 euros) | 403 euros |
| 3 days × 50% of Berlin total residual rate (72 euros) | 108 euros |
| Total | 511 euros |
Example 8
An employee makes a business trip to Hamburg in July 2019, where she stays for 3 days in a hotel. As Hamburg is not listed in the table of overseas scale rates applicable for the period after 5 April 2019, the employer may pay or reimburse the employee’s accommodation and subsistence expenses using the published rates for the nearest city that is listed in Germany. In this case, the nearest city listed is Berlin.
Example 9
An employee makes a business trip to Abidjan in Cote d’Ivoire in May 2019, where he stays in a hotel for 4 nights. As the overseas scale rates do not detail accommodation and subsistence rates for any city in Cote d’Ivoire, the employer can pay or reimburse the employee’s accommodation and subsistence expenses using the rates for the nearest city geographically that is listed in the appropriate table, which is Accra in Ghana.