EIM05260 – Employment income: scale rate expenses payments: accommodation and subsistence payments to employees travelling outside the UK: tables of benchmark rates: how to use the benchmark 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 but less
than 10 hours. The 10 hour rate applies to a period of more than 10
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 at
EIM05280.
Employers are not bound to use the benchmark 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 benchmark rates to pay tax/NIC free
subsistence expense, as follows. They may do so 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 at EIM05280.
Separate rules apply if an employee
