If your company is operating in Ireland and your employees are travelling for business, it’s important to stay up-to-date with the current rates of subsistence allowance in the country.

Do you know exactly how much you should reimburse employees when they’re away from their normal place of work?

Do you know the rates for day and overnight allowance?

Do you know how to calculate subsistence allowance when employees travel abroad?

To answer those questions and help you navigate subsistence allowances in Ireland, we’ve created this quick guide.

In it, you’ll find all the essential details on what your employees can claim when travelling for work, how to best manage their travel expenses, and the Irish subsistence rates in 2024.

What is subsistence allowance (also known as “meal allowance”) and how does it work?

Subsistence allowance is paid by employers to cover the daily expenses of employees who are away from their usual place of work. Although subsistence allowance is sometimes referred to as “meal allowance”, it doesn’t cover only meal costs; it usually covers expenses related to:

• Meals and drinks
• Accommodation
• Car parking
• Other expenses related to business travel

The daily allowance may vary based on the location and duration of the trip.

Mileage allowance, on the other hand, is a separate type of allowance that covers expenses incurred by employees when using their personal vehicles for official business trips. Mileage rates depend on the total distance travelled and also on the type of vehicle and its engine capacity (rates aren’t the same for vehicles with an engine capacity up to 1200cc compared to those with engine capacity 1201cc - 1500cc, for example).

Employees should provide receipts to support their reimbursement claims for subsistence and mileage allowances; in Ireland, these cannot be higher than the current Civil Service rates.

What are the subsistence allowance rates in Ireland for 2024?

In Ireland, Revenue (the Irish Tax and Customs office) sets the standard subsistence allowance rates for employees travelling for work. Although these are referred to as “Civil service rates”, they’re also used by the private sector, as they cap the maximum amount of tax-free money that an employee can claim for their expenses while on a business trip.

Below, you can see the 2024 subsistence rates for business journeys in Ireland and abroad.

Domestic subsistence allowance rates

You need to reimburse your employees’ subsistence expenses while they are on temporary work assignments away from their usual workplace; for this, you can either:

• Adhere to the current Civil Service subsistence rates
• Reimburse the actual costs incurred, provided they do not exceed the current Civil Service rates.

Let’s see what the rates and the different categories are.

Domestic overnight subsistence rates

Overnight subsistence rates apply when employees travel for work overnight and to a location that’s 100 km or more from their home or workplace.

Rate category

Rate

Normal rate

£144.00

Reduced rate

£151.56

Detention rate

£84.20

These standard domestic subsistence rates represent the maximum amount of money that an employee can claim tax-free for their necessary expenses while on a business trip and are based on the assignment’s duration:

• For assignments of up to 14 nights, the normal rate applies
• For the next 14 nights, the reduced rate applies
• The detention rate covers the next 28 nights

For assignments that are longer than 56 nights, you must check with Revenue whether subsistence expenses can still be claimed tax-free. Employees cannot stay longer than six months at any one location when claiming subsistence allowance.

Additionally, when staying overnight in Dublin, employees can claim expenses based on a special Vouched Accomodation Rate (VA), which is, as follows:

Type of expense

Rate

Vouched cost of accommodation

Up to £168.40

Meals

£37.13

Total

Up to £205.53

The above domestic accommodation and meal allowance rates were last updated on 14th December 2023 to reflect the increases in Irish business travel costs.

Domestic daily subsistence rates

Domestic day subsistence rates apply when an employee needs to work on an assignment that’s more than 8 km away from their home or office and depends on its length (i.e. hour rates apply).

Period of assignment

Rate

Between five and ten hours

£15.48

Ten hours or more

£37.13

Overnight and day allowances can be claimed simultaneously if the employee works for more than five hours on the following day.

Foreign subsistence allowance rates

Civil service subsistence allowance rates for foreign countries vary by country and duration and cover reasonable accommodation and meal costs.

Here are some common destinations and the hour and day rates for each:

Britain and Northern Ireland (in GBP)

Overnight rate

Vouched accommodation rate

10 hours

5 hours

London

199.29

99.65

66.43

33.22

Northern Ireland

118.70

59.35

39.57

19.78

Elsewhere

139.71

69.86

46.57

23.29

European Union (in EUR)

Overnight rate

Vouched accommodation rate

10 hours

5 hours

Belgium

Brussels

Vouched cost of room + the VA rate is applicable

120.75

80.50

40.25

Elsewhere

193.20

96.60

64.40

32.20

France

Paris

316.50

158.25

105.50

52.75

Strasbourg

188.50

94.25

62.83

31.42

Elsewhere

Room plus 98.00

98.00

65.33

32.67

Germany

Berlin

239.50

119.75

79.83

39.92

Munich

226.50

113.25

75.50

37.75

Elsewhere

176.50

88.25

58.83

29.42

You can see the full list of countries and subsistence allowance rates on the website of the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, in their Circular 07/2017.

Subsistence allowance rates in Ireland: Key takeaways

Travel and subsistence allowance rates in Ireland depend on the location and duration of each work assignment away from the employee’s home or workplace; the Civil service subsistence rates reflect the maximum amount of subsistence allowance employees can claim tax-free.

One of the simplest ways to manage travel expenses at your organisation is to connect your expense management solution to a dedicated business travel management platform like TravelPerk. This enables you to keep track of all expenses in a single location, have granular control over your budget, and provide a great travel experience to all employees.