‘REVENUE APPROVED’ MILEAGE & SUBSISTENCE RATES THAT SME’S CAN CLAIM & ALSO HOMEWORKING ALLOWANCE

RMcH comment: it is important to know what you can charge to your company with regard to travel & subsistence, if using your own car or bike for business purposes. Also there is a tax free amount you can pay to homeworkers.

Civil Service motoring and bicycle rates

Cars (rate per kilometre)

The kilometres accumulated by an employee between 1 January 2017 and 1 April 2017 will not be altered by the introduction of these new bands and rates. Actual kilometres driven to date will, however, count towards total kilometres for the year.

For example, if you had claimed 1,400km on 1 April 2017, you would then move to the new Band 1. Once you have driven a further 100km, you would then move to Band 2.

Motorcycles (rate per kilometre)

Bicycles

Current Subsistence Rates (applying from 1 July 2015) are:

Subsistence

Civil Service subsistence rates

Rates for assignments within the State

Overnight allowance

Overnight allowance covers an overnight assignment of up to 24 hours. This must be at least 100km from the employee's home and their normal place of work.

The rate category depends on the period of an assignment:

• normal rate is for up to 14 nights
• reduced rate covers the next 14 nights
• detention rate covers each of the next 28 nights.

For assignments over 56 nights, you must make an application to Revenue to confirm subsistence is still available.

The period of subsistence at any one location is limited to six months.

Day allowances

The assignment must be outside eight kilometres of the employee's home or normal place of work.

You can only claim both a day and overnight allowance if you work five hours or more the next day.

Rates for assignments outside the State

Short term assignment

These rates can be used for a single temporary assignment of up to six months where your employee is working abroad.

Long term assignment

A long term assignment will be more than six months.

For the first month of the assignment you can allow subsistence for the overnight rate. This is to facilitate the employee to find self-catering accommodation.

For the remainder of the assignment you can allow subsistence costs and a portion of the ten-hour day rate. The subsistence cost can cover the cost of reasonable accommodation. You can allow 50% of the day rate (ten-hour) for the location.

Revenue have issued guidance on the tax treatment of e-workers and remote workers.

eWorking:

eWorking is where an employee works:

• at home on a full or part-time basis
• part of the time at home and the remainder in the normal place of work
• while on the move, with visits to the normal place of work.

eWorking involves:

• working for substantial periods outside the normal place of work
• logging onto a work computer remotely
• sending and receiving email, data or files remotely
• developing ideas, products and services remotely.

Home expenses payment:

You can make a payment of €3.20 per workday to an eWorker employee without deducting:

• Pay As You Earn (PAYE)
• Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) 
• Universal Social Charge (USC).

This payment is to cover expenses such as heating and electricity costs.

If your employee’s costs are higher and you repay these expenses, records of the payments made must retained by you.

Your employees may instead choose to make a claim online at the end of the tax year. To do this, they must submit receipts to their local Revenue office using MyEnquiries which is available through MyAccount.

These arrangements only apply to eWorker employees. They do not apply to staff who bring work home outside of normal working hours.