SE65810 - Tax treatment of local authority officials and employees: travelling and subsistence allowances
Up to and including 1996/97
Until the end of 1996/97 payments in respect of travelling on official business away from an employee's normal place of work, and associated subsistence allowances, were normally made in accordance with scales laid down in the Scheme of Conditions of Service operated by local authorities. (These were dealt with at paragraph 61 of what is known as the “Purple Book” in England and Wales and the “Blue Book” in Scotland.) It was agreed that, where payments conformed to the scales laid down
- payments to employees with emoluments at a rate of £8,500 a year or more should be the subject of a dispensation (see SE30051 onwards).
- payments to other employees travelling on official business should not attract liability.
As regards payments under paragraph 61 of the “Purple Book” in respect of meals taken at the normal place of employment, see SE65865.
1997/98 onwards
With effect from 1 April 1997 the Scheme of Conditions of
Service operated by local authorities was altered, with greater
discretion over the reimbursement of expenditure on travel and
subsistence being delegated to individual local authority
employers.
Centrally agreed rates of reimbursement for subsistence are
no longer published, although some local authority employers may
use the former method to uprate the old subsistence rates.
Different local authority employers use the subsistence rates
in different ways. For example
- some employers may reimburse actual, receipted expenditure, subject to a maximum amount
- some employers may continue to reimburse at flat rates.
You can agree a dispensation for reimbursements made under the first of these methods provided the associated journeys qualify for relief as business travel – see SE31815. For reimbursements under the second method, follow the guidance in the first paragraph of SE30057.
