Foreign Travel & Subsistence Expenses | Personal Ltd Company

We have complied a useful guide to what expenses you can claim while on Foreign Travel carrying out duties of a contract including:  

1. What exactly you can claim 
2. Conditions your travel must  meet in order to claim
3. FAQs that will cover all aspects of Foreign Travel Expenses
4. What Revenue will look for in an inspection 

Everything you need to know…

1. What Exactly You Can Claim

• Cost of flights
• Travel costs whilst in location, e.g taxi, public transport
• Vouched Accommodation
• Vouched Meals, 3 per day
• Civil Service Subsistence rates*

*Note Civil service subsistence rates cannot be claimed in addition to vouched accommodation and meals.

2. Conditions Your Travel Expenses Must Meet In Order To Claim

• The travel must be wholly and exclusively related to your contract work
• The site you are working on abroad must not be your normal place of work
• You must be able to prove that you incurred the travel expenses yourself and you were not reimbursed by client
• The travel should not form part of a holiday or personal trip, otherwise it will be disallowed

3. FAQ’s

It is a requirement for my contract to be 8 days a month in a site abroad, can I claim Travel and Subsistence for this?

According to Revenue guidelines if it is explicit in your contract that you are on site abroad they may class this site as your main place of work, so you wouldn’t be able to claim this.

My contract states that my main client site is in Ireland and I may be required to travel abroad from time to time at my own expense

You can claim travel expenses for these trips.

My full contract is to be carried out at client site abroad

No travel and subsistence expenses allowed

My client reimburses me for all my vouched expenses can I also claim these through my limited company?

No,  this would be seen by the Revenue Commissioners as double claiming and Revenue would disallow your claim.

My client reimburses me for some of vouched expenses can I claim the balance through my limited company?

Yes, you can claim the allowable expenses that your client does not reimburse you through your limited company as an allowable expense.

How does the Civil Service Rates work?

If your client does not reimburse you for your accommodation or meals and you incur them at your own cost you have a choice of either claiming the vouched costs or the allowance. There is Civil service rate guidance and an allowable rate depending on the city/country that you are staying in.

What are the category of subsistence I can claim and what do they cover?

Overnight Rate = Cost of accommodation plus 3 meals (they should be of reasonable cost)

10 Hour rate = Cost of 2 meals

5 hour rate = cost of 1 meal

VA Rate = Vouched cost of accommodation plus VA Rate (VA Rate is the rate outlined in the Dept of Finance pdf)

Please see revenue rates: https://circulars.gov.ie/pdf/circular/per/2017/07.pdf

Can I choose whether to claim vouched accommodation or subsistence?

Yes, generally this is your choice although Revenue prefer you claim vouched when possible (We would advise you review the rates from the circular)

I need to complete a training course abroad, can I claim the travel and subsistence relating to it?

If the sole purpose of the trip is to complete the course and it can be demonstrated that the course/conference is directly related to your business then you may claim. The cost must be reasonable and it must be shown that  there  was a requirement to travel for course, i.e. it wasn’t available in Ireland.

Items Revenue will look out for in an Inspection :

• Copy of Contract , and if written in Contract it’s a normal place of work
• Weekends away with spouse or family
• Claiming for Travel to your home country whilst not billing (e.g. you are claiming foreign travel for a period when you are not invoicing the client)
• Proof of travel (they may inspect logs if travel is frequent)
• Holding your AGM abroad
• “Holidays” they will check that you have billable days on the days that you are abroad
• Double claiming of vouched expenses and subsistence
• Proof of attendance in client site e.g. timesheet or calendar.

If you are unsure of any above please feel free to contact us on 01 8077106 or ask your Account manager for further information.