A business trip is a scary word for some, but for others it’s a real celebration of life. The term involves the performance of work functions outside the usual place. An employer planning to send an employee on a business trip should take into account that this can only be done in relation to an officially registered person. A prerequisite is the conclusion of an employment contract. The agreement should state that business trips are possible. But if the work is officially of a traveling nature, then each individual trip cannot be called a business trip. Sets the norms of travel expenses of the Ministry of Finance.
Business trip: whom and how?
On a business trip, you can also send an employee working on a remote basis, one whose workplace is at home. The main thing is that the person is on the staff of the organization, which gives him exactly the same rights as those who work in the territory of the employer. The rate of reimbursement of travel expenses for a part-time job is his average salary in the company from which the person went on a trip.
In some cases, a person goes on a business trip to two jobs at once - the main and part-time jobs. In this situation, employers must agree on the payment of travel allowance. The rate of expenditure presupposes accounting for both jobs at once - that is, one company assumes the payment of some of the costs, while the other has the obligation to pay the balance.
Standards: this is important
Travel expenses in Russia are regulated by the Labor Code. Articles 167th and 168th are devoted to this. Both state organizations and private companies are equally required to comply with the TC. The requirements of the law apply to all forms of entrepreneurship, ownership. Accounting should calculate and control the rate of daily travel expenses, taking into account generally accepted rules.
Costs have several items. This includes daily subsistence allowance, transportation and accommodation expenses.
Daily expenses
Travel expenses within the norms assume the allocation for each day no more than 700 rubles. No taxes are charged on this amount. Can I get more money from the company? It is possible to establish travel expenses in excess of the norm with a local regulatory act in force within the organization. This will provide access to large amounts, but accounting will be forced to charge and levy taxes on amounts exceeding 700 rubles.
An equally important item of expenditure is the cost of transportation. They involve accounting for the cost of tickets for all modes of transport used during the employee’s business trip. They take into account both the road to the place of work and the return back. For this category there is no norm of travel expenses, as well as no restrictions on the type of transport used. A ticket is required. On its basis, money is accrued.
Important Features
In some cases, you need to go on a business trip from the airport, port or station located at a distance from the workplace. If this happens, the cost of traveling to this point is also included in the travel expenses.
The collective agreement concluded at the enterprise (if any) may contain rules for the reimbursement of other transportation costs. For example, if an employee does not use public transport, but uses a private car — taxi, car rental, then it is possible to recover the money spent on this according to a letter issued in 2011 to the Ministry of Finance.
We live at the expense of the company: is it possible?
According to the law, the norms of travel expenses abroad and within Russia take into account compensation for living expenses. Amounts depend on the category of housing. Various payment methods are possible. Reservation is allowed, which is taken into account when calculating the tax base.
Additional services do not affect the base for calculating taxes if those were requested by the employee who went on a business trip. For example, an employee can order special clothes, go to the gym and sauna, but the company should not pay for this. When renting a home for an employee, the rate of travel expenses is the amount under the lease. Costs are recorded in the “other” category.
Reporting and business trip
As the norms of travel expenses are established, when a person is sent on a business trip, the company allocates certain funds. The company is obliged to provide the employee with money, and what exactly he will do with them is his personal business. That is, the money that the organization sends on a business trip, you can save and use for your own benefit. Per diem is calculated based on the number of days spent on the trip. They include money intended for renting a place to sleep, this includes days of rest.
As a rule, you don’t have to rely on per diem, there is a need to complete a work task in the city where the company employee resides. However, the norms of travel expenses do not include the money spent by the employee who was sent on a trip to the nearest settlement - since by default it is believed that he can return home. In a private organization, the head has the right to determine the norms of travel expenses by issuing an internal order. It prescribes what workers, leading specialists and other staffing units can count on. It is possible to group some individuals according to some characteristic.
Money: pay workers?
If the norms for travel expenses have been established, it means that sooner or later, employees who are sent on a business trip will have to pay. Costs incurred by employees in carrying out production tasks in different places are reimbursed when they provide reporting documents. Papers must confirm all expenses for which a person claims to be reimbursed.
If a certain employee cannot provide documents in time to reimburse him for the money spent, if there are no contracts, checks, then you can count on a refund only according to the standards of the second part of Article 168 of the Labor Code, as well as the letter of the Ministry of Finance mentioned above. The basic rate for the calculation is 700 rubles for one night trip. It is also possible that the employee incurs expenses in excess of the standards adopted by the company. According to them, a refund is allowed only if it is regulated by local regulations within the organization. Additional regulation is also possible through collective bargaining agreements.
How to pay? Features of the calculation
When it comes to returning to an organization employee the funds spent by him on a business trip, you need to consider different payment methods. For example, an employee could pay in cash or with a bank card. For cash payment, you will have to submit to the accounting office at the place of work a check from the hotel or an agreement concluded upon check-in, as well as an act in a special form. If payment was made by card upon arrival at the workplace, fiscal and hotel checks are submitted to the accounting department.
It is important to monitor the coincidence of dates. All documents confirming payment during the trip must have numbers that match the dates of the trip. All movements, arrival, departure from a place are registered in the order on sending on a business trip. Checks must be consistent with this internal document. Without levying taxes, the refund of bookkeeping during a business trip is returned for communication and baggage spent.If a flight was made, then the airport service charge will have to be returned to the employee, as well as the cost of transport to the place of departure on a business trip.
More or less?
The law states that a person sending a business trip can count on at least 700 rubles for each day spent away from home. More money can get one who works in a generous company. If the head has signed an order to establish another amount that exceeds this minimum limit - excellent, you will be able to get a more enjoyable refund.
The value of per diem affects personal income tax. In addition, internal local documents can regulate transportation costs - you can enter additional ones. As a rule, they try to arrange all this in such a way as to minimize the amount with which taxes must be withheld. At the same time, the company must keep accounting records correctly, otherwise a simple business trip during a tax audit can be a big problem.
Time and financial framework: mandatory
When an employee returns from a business trip, he must write a report on the perfect trip within three business days. Based on this document, accounting will calculate how much money still needs to be paid. As a rule, even before a business trip, they give out a small amount in advance, and at the final calculation this value is deducted. Bookkeeping calculates and transfers income taxes, and also pays social insurance.
When an employee arrives from a working trip, they approve a time sheet that states how many hours have been worked. All days spent on departure are designated “K” or “06”. A clock is not required. A situation is possible when the trip captured a day off, that is, the employee was not able to spend the time prescribed by law at his own discretion. If this happened, the day is marked with the code “03” or with the symbols of the PB. Payment is made taking into account the requirements of Article 153 of the TC - twice as much as for a simple working day. However, you can pay as a simple working day, but then you have to give the employee an additional day off.
Business trip: days off, illnesses and other problems
It happens that on his day off the person sent on a business trip was on the road — traveling to a place or returning from there. These days are legally classified by workers, labeled, as indicated above, “03” or “RV”. The employer must first discuss with the employee the features of his exit on the weekend. In some cases, the company’s management representative may find it unnecessary to leave on those days when the employee must have a legal day off, that is, he will refuse to pay for it as expected by the traveler.
It should be understood that during a business trip, an employee may be injured or ill. In any of these cases, the situation develops in accordance with the current standards of the Labor Code. The employee retains all the rights and privileges due to him.
Standards and restrictions
It is important to ensure that the standards specified in the local acts and the actual expenses of the employee are agreed. It is also important to regulate with internal documents how large housing expenses can be. Travel costs are not only the costs of transportation directly. This chapter also includes expenses related to travel insurance and the cost of traveling documents. In some cases, you have to pay special fees (for example, at the airport), payments. All of them are also recorded in the category of transport.
Business trip abroad: what and how?
If an employee needs to be sent abroad, then travel for him should be calculated according to a special scheme, somewhat different from working trips within his native country. The limit taken into account when calculating personal income tax is 2500 rubles.The amount is issued in the currency of the country to which the employee is sent on a working trip. The advance is also charged in the currency that is in use in the country of destination. An advance payment is calculated, taking into account how many days it is supposed to stay on a business trip. If part of the journey passes through Russian territory, the advance payment is charged in rubles during this period, but for all days from the moment of crossing the border you need to pay with the currency that is used there. The scheme works in the opposite direction - payment for a business trip in rubles is carried out for all days from the moment of crossing the border towards the house and until the moment of arrival home.
Such a trip is possible when a person abroad spends only a day. In this case, travel expenses are charged in half in foreign currency. If the destination country is one of the CIS countries, then you do not even need to put a note confirming the fact of crossing the border.
Business trip: accounting headache
The trip is calculated taking into account the standards of the simplified tax system. Some time ago, official tasks were canceled at the state level, and travel certificates were equally a thing of the past. However, this did not cancel the business trips themselves, only simplified their documentary support. The fact that taxation of expenses related to business trips is not provided if the standards are met is stated in the third paragraph of Article 217 of the Tax Code.
If the trip was organized using the employee’s personal machine, this does not mean that it was at his expense. Simply make a memo indicating the exact dates, mileage, direction, number of the order on the direction of the trip. This is enough for accounting to accrue. It is important to consider that the company is obliged to reimburse all expenses for travel and accommodation, and be guided by this rule.