Travel & Subsistence Compliance Checklist for Ireland

What an Irish employer needs in place before paying mileage and subsistence tax-free: the three conditions, the normal place of work, the records Revenue lists, the civil service rate limits and real-time ERR reporting. Tick off the 28 checks below; each one links to the rule behind it.

Expense.ie teamUpdated October 2026 · 13 minute read
Start the checklistWhat an error costs
Details to record for every flat-rate journey
6
Details to record for every flat-rate journey
Records
How long to keep them, from the end of the tax year
6 yrs
How long to keep them, from the end of the tax year
Retention
ERR report due on or before the day each payment is made
Pay day
ERR report due on or before the day each payment is made
ERR
Top penalty for a deliberate error, before any disclosure reduction
100%
Top penalty for a deliberate error, before any disclosure reduction
Section 1077F

Checked on 10 October 2026 against Revenue's Tax and Duty Manuals on travel and subsistence (reviewed September 2026) and ERR (reviewed September 2026), DPER Circulars 04/2025 and 16/2022, Revenue's Code of Practice for compliance interventions, and sections 886, 887, 986A, 991 and 1077F of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997.

The short version

T&S compliance in thirty seconds

A travel or subsistence payment is tax-free only if the employee is temporarily away from their normal place of work on duty, the travel is necessary for the job and any subsistence attaches to that travel. It must stay within the civil service rates (or be repaid against receipts), be backed by six recorded details kept for six years, and be reported to Revenue under ERR on or before the day it is paid. Anything else is pay and goes through payroll.

Three conditions

Temporarily away from the normal place of work, travel necessarily incurred in the duties, subsistence attached to that travel.

Civil service rates as the cap

Mileage 20.56c to 90.63c per km by engine and band; €46.17 day rate; €205.53 a night.

Six details per journey

Name and address, date, reason, km, start, destination and finish, basis of payment.

Six years

Kept from the end of the tax year, longer while a Revenue inquiry or appeal is open.

ERR by pay day

Every tax-free payment reported to Revenue on or before the date it is paid.

The rest is pay

Commuting, round sums, car allowances and excess over the rates go through PAYE.

The checklist

The T&S compliance checklist: how audit-ready are you?

28 checks in six groups, 14 of them high-risk. Tick what you already have in place; your progress is saved in this browser, and you can print the list for a review meeting.

Travel and subsistence compliance checklist · www.expense.ie/travel-subsistence-compliance-checklist · printed 18 October 2026 · 0 of 28 in place

Policy and set-up

0 of 6
  1. Good practiceSource[1]Policy template
  2. High riskGood practiceSource[1]Normal place of work
  3. High riskRevenue ruleSource[5]Remote and hybrid workers
  4. High riskRevenue ruleSource[1]Current rates
  5. High riskRevenue ruleSource[1]Car allowance or mileage
  6. High riskRevenue ruleSource[1]Company cars

Every claim

0 of 5
  1. High riskRevenue ruleSource[1]Commute calculator
  2. Revenue ruleSource[1]The lesser-of rule
  3. High riskRevenue ruleSource[1]Mileage log template
  4. High riskRevenue ruleSource[1]Employee guide
  5. Good practiceSource[1]Audit triggers

Mileage

0 of 4
  1. Revenue ruleSource[4]EV and hybrid rates
  2. High riskRevenue ruleSource[1]How to calculate mileage
  3. Revenue ruleSource[1]Reduced rates
  4. Good practiceMileage logbooks

Subsistence

0 of 5
  1. High riskRevenue ruleSource[1]Day rates
  2. High riskRevenue ruleSource[1]Overnight rates
  3. Revenue ruleSource[1]Long stays
  4. Revenue ruleSource[3]Dublin rate
  5. Revenue ruleSource[1]Rates abroad

ERR reporting

0 of 4
  1. High riskRevenue ruleSource[2]ERR deadlines
  2. Revenue ruleSource[2]ERR guide
  3. High riskRevenue ruleSource[2]ERR for mileage
  4. Revenue ruleSource[5]Remote workers

Records and audit

0 of 4
  1. High riskRevenue ruleSource[10]Record keeping
  2. Revenue ruleSource[11]Software or spreadsheets
  3. Revenue ruleSource[1]Out-of-hours travel
  4. Good practiceSource[7]Audit triggers

“Revenue rule” items come from Revenue’s manuals, the circulars or the Taxes Consolidation Act; “Good practice” items are our advice on how to show you meet them. Need the policy to go with it? Start from the travel expense policy template.

The test

When is a T&S payment tax-free?

Only when all three of Revenue's conditions are met. Fail one and the whole payment is taxable pay.

1 · Temporarily away

The employee is temporarily away from their normal place of work in the performance of their duties. Travel between home and the normal place of work is private, whatever the distance.[1]

2 · Necessarily incurred

The travel expenses are necessarily incurred in performing the duties of the job, not because of where the employee chooses to live or work.[1]

3 · Subsistence follows travel

Meals and accommodation qualify only when they attach to travel that meets the first two conditions. No business journey, no tax-free subsistence.[1]

Round sums and car allowances are always payA weekly or monthly round sum for expenses, paid whatever is actually spent (Revenue’s example is €500 a month), is taxable and subject to PAYE. So is any amount paid instead of the use of a company car or van.[1] The payment has to track real business journeys.
If the employee claims relief insteadAn employee can still claim tax relief on their actual allowable expenses. If they do, everything the employer reimbursed, flat rates included, is treated as pay and taxed.[1] See the employee guide to travel expenses.
Normal place of work

Where is the employee's normal place of work?

Where they normally perform their duties. It is a question of fact, decided person by person, and every distance test starts from it.

The employer’s registered office is not automatically anyone’s normal place of work, and two employees of the same employer can have different ones.[1][6] Home counts only where there is an objective requirement for the duties to be done there; choosing to work from home, or doing some work there, is not enough. Recording each person’s normal place of work is not a legal requirement in itself, but every claim depends on it. The full rules and a journey map are in our normal place of work guide.

WhoNormal place of workManual
Office-based employeeThe office where they normally work. Trips from there to clients or other sites are business journeys.2.2, 2.3[1]
Hybrid workerThe office. Home-to-office travel can never be paid tax-free, and no subsistence for days at home.05-02-13 s.6[5]
Home-based by objective requirementHome can be the normal place of work if the duties must be performed there. Personal choice does not qualify.2.2[1]
Travelling appointmentWhere travel is integral to the job, the employer’s premises; trips from home are paid on the shorter of home or base.4.3[1]
Site-based, no fixed baseNo fixed base. Up to €181.68 a week “country money” tax-free where the site is 32 km or more from the employer’s base.4.7.2[1]
Worker of an intermediaryUsually the client’s premises. Revenue does not accept the place where the intermediary’s admin and books are kept.4.9.2[1]
Director of group companiesOne normal place of work in the group: where most of the duties are performed.4.6.3.2[1]
Director of unrelated companiesTravel from home to each company, and between the companies, is taxable.4.6.3.1[1]
Construction workers on site allowances are covered in country money for site-based employees; directors in directors’ travel expenses.
No fixed point at which a temporary workplace becomes permanentRevenue’s manual sets no number of months after which a temporary location becomes the normal place of work for an ordinary employee. For subsistence, the limit is six months at any one location, with overnight rates stepping down after 14 and 28 nights.[1]
Records

What records do you need for travel expenses?

For flat-rate payments, six details for every journey. For vouched payments, the receipts. Both kept for six years.

Revenue’s manual lists what the employer must keep where mileage or subsistence is paid at a flat rate.[1] These records are your evidence that the three conditions were met; without them a payment is hard to defend. Our mileage log template has a column for each one.

01Name and address

Of the employee or director.

02Date of the journey

Each trip, not a monthly total.

03Reason for the journey

The business purpose: client, site, meeting.

04Kilometres travelled

Business km only, after any commute deduction.

05Start, destination and finish

Where the journey began, went and ended.

06Basis of payment

For example an overnight stay, a 10-hour day or the mileage band.

Vouched expenses

Where you repay actual costs (train fares, parking, a hotel), keep the receipts together with the details of the travel they relate to.[1]

Retention6 years

After the end of the tax year the records refer to.[1] Section 886 also keeps records alive while a Revenue inquiry, claim or appeal about them is open, and sets a €3,000 penalty for failing to keep them.[10]

Digital records are fine

Section 887 accepts electronic records whose integrity is assured from when they were first made, that can be displayed and printed in readable form, and that can be readily accessed.[11] Recording as you go is easier to defend than rebuilding a log later. See software or spreadsheets.

Rates and limits

What rates and limits apply in 2026?

The civil service rates are the ceiling for tax-free flat-rate payments. Paying less is always allowed.

Domestic subsistence comes from Circular 04/2025, in force since 29 January 2025, and mileage from Circular 16/2022, in force since 1 September 2022.[3][4] Revenue’s manual (reviewed September 2026) still lists both as current.[1] Any change is tracked on Revenue travel and subsistence updates.

Each rate has a test behind it: the 5-hour and 10-hour day rates, the 100 km overnight test, and the four mileage bands, worked out from each person’s business km since 1 January (see how to calculate mileage).

AllowanceMaximum tax-free
Day: 5 to 10 hours, over 8 km away€19.25
Day: 10 hours or more€46.17
Overnight, over 100 km: nights 1–14€205.53
Nights 15–28 at one location€184.98
Nights 29–56€102.76
Beyond 56 nightsAgree with Revenue
Dublin vouched accommodationReceipts to €205.53 + €46.17
Mileage, by engine size and band20.56c–90.63c/km
Subsistence at any one location is limited to six months. The 50 km overnight distance applies only in exceptional cases of operational need.[1]

Trips and assignments abroad

Foreign rates are set per country and city by Circular 07/2017, which Revenue’s manual still points to.[1] On a temporary foreign assignment the manual tapers them by how long the assignment lasts; actual vouched costs can be paid instead where they are higher. Country rates are in international subsistence rates.

AssignmentPeriodAllowable subsistence
Six months or lessFirst month100% of the rate for the location
Six months or lessSecond and third month75% of the rate
Six months or lessFourth to sixth month50% of the rate
More than six monthsFirst monthUp to the overnight rate, while self-catering accommodation is found
More than six monthsRemainderReasonable accommodation cost plus 50% of the 10-hour day rate
Tax and Duty Manual 05-01-06, 4.11. Applies to employees with at least three months’ service in the State who will return to the Irish job afterwards.[1]
ERR reporting

How does ERR reporting work for T&S?

Every tax-free travel and subsistence payment is reported to Revenue in real time, on or before the day it is paid.

Section 897C TCA 1997, inserted by Finance Act 2022, made tax-free travel and subsistence a “reportable benefit” from 1 January 2024, alongside the small benefit exemption and the remote working daily allowance.[2] For each payment you report the amount and the date paid, under one of eight subcategories. Mileage and the rate used are not reported, but your own records still need them.

Revenue’s ERR manual, reviewed in September 2026, still requires reporting on or before the payment, and we found no 2025 or 2026 change to that deadline.[2] The detail, including payroll cut-offs and corrections, is in ERR reporting deadlines and the ERR compliance guide.

Decide before you payThe employer must decide before paying whether the conditions for tax-free treatment are met. If they are not (a commute, a round sum, the excess over a civil service rate), the payment goes through payroll as pay and is not an ERR item.[2]
SubcategoryTypically covers
Travel vouchedFares, parking and tolls on business journeys, repaid against receipts
Travel unvouchedFlat-rate mileage at or below the civil service rates
Subsistence vouchedMeals and accommodation repaid against receipts
Subsistence unvouchedDay and overnight flat rates
Advance payment of T&SAdvances under Revenue’s optional practice, reconciled with the claim
Site-based employeesCountry money, up to €181.68 a week
Emergency travelCall-outs to the normal place of work, up to 60 a year
Eating on siteUp to €5 a day, where the conditions are met
Subcategories from TDM 38-03-33, 5.3; limits from TDM 05-01-06.[2][1] The examples in the second column are ours.
The €3.20 remote working allowanceUp to €3.20 a day for working from home can be paid tax-free and is reported under ERR too. If it is paid for a day on which the employee also claims travel and subsistence, Revenue treats the €3.20 as pay for that day.[5] See remote workers and business travel.
Who it applies to

Do the rules differ for directors and other workers?

The core rules are the same for employees and directors. A few groups have their own exemptions or limits.

WhoWhat is different
EmployeesThe general rules: three conditions, civil service rates without approval, records, ERR.[1]
Directors, including owner-directorsExactly the same rules as employees. Travel to their own normal place of work as director is taxable.[1] See directors’ travel expenses.
Irish-resident non-executive directorsSection 195D: tax-free travel and subsistence to board and other company meetings in the State, if their fees are no more than €5,000 a year and the payment is within the civil service rates. Any excess is taxable.[1]
Non-resident non-executive directorsSection 195B: vouched travel and subsistence to attend company meetings is exempt.[1]
Site-based employeesUp to €181.68 a week where the site is 32 km or more from the employer’s base, plus an eating-on-site allowance of up to €5 a day in some cases.[1] See travel expenses in construction.
Workers of intermediariesThe client’s premises is usually the normal place of work, so travel there from home is commuting.[1]
Self-employedNot covered by the employer practice. They deduct the business share of actual costs in their own accounts. See sole trader expenses.
Emergency call-outs

Travel to the normal place of work outside hours for a genuine emergency: up to 60 a year tax-free.

Late-night taxis

Home from work (not to work), working past 10pm and finishing before 6am, irregular, at most 60 a year.

On call at a customer

Called out to a location other than the normal place of work: normal T&S rules apply.

Remote working allowance

Up to €3.20 a day, but not tax-free on a day T&S is also claimed.

Tax and Duty Manual 05-01-06, 4.4 and 4.5; remote working: TDM 05-02-13.[1][5]

If Revenue finds a problem

What does a T&S error cost an employer?

The tax that should have been deducted, interest, and a penalty that depends on behaviour and on whether you told Revenue first.

Penalties are a percentage of the tax underpaid, set by section 1077F TCA 1997.[7] Careless behaviour has “significant consequences” where the underpayment is more than 15% of the tax correctly due. A qualifying disclosure, made in full and with full cooperation, cuts the penalty sharply, most of all when it is unprompted, before Revenue has started a check.

BehaviourNo disclosurePromptedUnprompted
Careless, without significant consequences20%10%3%
Careless, with significant consequences (over 15%)40%20%5%
Deliberate100%50%10%
With full cooperation. A second qualifying disclosure in these categories gets smaller reductions (deliberate: 75% prompted, 55% unprompted), and a third none.[7]
Revenue's own example · section 986A

€1,000 of pay disguised as expenses

Where an employer deliberately disguises pay, for example by processing a round-sum car allowance as tax-free travel expenses after Revenue has said it is taxable, the net payment is “re-grossed”: treated as what was left after income tax, then taxed on the grossed-up figure. Under section 986A the re-grossing uses the income tax rate only. This is Revenue’s worked example for an employee paying tax at 40%, at 2024 rates.[8] Genuine mistakes are not re-grossed: tax, USC and PRSI are then charged on the payment itself.

Paid to the employee
€1,000
Re-grossed: €1,000 ÷ 60%
€1,667
Income tax at 40%
€667
PRSI: 11.15% employer + 4.1% employee
€254
USC at 4%
€67
Tax due€988
Before interest and any penalty. Revenue's figures, rounded to the euro.

Interest: 0.0274% a day

Late employer income tax, PRSI and USC carries interest under section 991 at 0.0274% a day, about 10% a year, from the due date. It cannot be reduced.[9][7]

Publication

Settlements can be published in the tax defaulters list under section 1086A, except where a qualifying disclosure is accepted, the tax is €50,000 or less, or the penalty is no more than 15% of the tax.[7]

Mislabelled pay

Where pay is labelled as tax-free expenses, Revenue says it will consider whether fraud or neglect is involved, or whether a Revenue offence has been committed.[1] What draws attention is covered in Revenue audit triggers.

Common mistakes

Which mistakes turn tax-free payments into pay?

Each of these breaks one of Revenue's conditions. All of them are on the checklist above.

Paying hybrid workers to come into the office

The office is the normal place of work for anyone who splits time between office and home. Home-to-office travel is a commute.[5]

Round sums and car allowances paid gross

A flat monthly amount for expenses, or an allowance instead of a company car, is taxable whatever it is called.[1]

Flat rates above the civil service rates

Without Revenue approval for another scale, any flat-rate amount over the civil service rate is pay. Actual costs repaid against receipts are a different matter.[1]

Mileage in the wrong band or column

Bands run on each person’s business km since 1 January, and the column on engine size; a hybrid is not an electric car.[4]

Missing journey details

No reason, no route or a monthly total instead of trips: the payment may be fine, but you cannot show it.[1]

ERR filed after pay day

The report is due on or before the payment date, not at the end of the month or the year.[2]

When a mistake looks deliberate, see expense reimbursement fraud for the red flags on a claim and a fair way to handle it.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

What records does Revenue require for travel expenses in Ireland?

For flat-rate mileage and subsistence, the employer must keep a record of the employee’s name and address, the date of the journey, the reason for it, the kilometres travelled, the starting point, destination and finishing point, and the basis of the payment (for example an overnight stay). For expenses repaid against receipts, the employer keeps the receipts with the details of the travel. Records are kept for six years after the end of the tax year they relate to.

How long must an employer keep travel and subsistence records?

Six years after the end of the tax year the records refer to. Under section 886 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, records must also be kept beyond six years while a Revenue inquiry, a claim or an appeal about them is still open. Electronic records are acceptable if they meet section 887: their integrity is assured from when they were made and they can be displayed and printed in readable form.

Do tax-free travel and subsistence payments have to be reported to Revenue?

Yes. Since 1 January 2024, under the Enhanced Reporting Requirements in section 897C TCA 1997, employers report each tax-free travel and subsistence payment to Revenue on or before the date it is paid: the amount, the payment date and the subcategory (travel or subsistence, vouched or unvouched, advance, site-based, emergency travel or eating on site). Revenue’s manual, reviewed in September 2026, still sets this timing.

Does an employer need Revenue approval to pay civil service rates?

No. An employer can pay flat rates up to the civil service rates without Revenue approval where a satisfactory recording and internal control system is in place. Paying flat rates from any other schedule of rates needs Revenue approval.

What are the penalties if Revenue finds travel and subsistence errors?

The employer pays the tax that should have been deducted, interest of 0.0274% a day on late PAYE (section 991 TCA 1997), and a tax-geared penalty under section 1077F: 20% of the tax for careless behaviour, 40% where the underpayment is more than 15% of the tax due, and 100% for deliberate behaviour. A first unprompted qualifying disclosure cuts these to 3%, 5% and 10%. Where pay was deliberately disguised as expenses, the payment can also be re-grossed under section 986A.

Can hybrid workers be paid tax-free travel from home to the office?

No. If an employee works partly in the office and partly at home, the office is their normal place of work, and travel between home and the office can never be reimbursed tax-free. Trips to clients can be paid, measured from home or the office, whichever is shorter.

Are round-sum expense allowances tax-free?

No. A weekly or monthly round sum paid for expenses whatever is actually spent, for example €500 a month, is taxable and goes through PAYE. So is an allowance paid instead of a company car. Only payments that track actual business journeys, at or below the civil service rates or against receipts, can be paid tax-free.

Can the self-employed use civil service mileage rates?

The civil service rate practice in Revenue’s manual covers payments by employers to employees, directors and other office holders. Self-employed people deduct the business share of their actual travel costs in their own accounts instead.
Sources

Where these rules come from

Primary sources only: Revenue's manuals and code of practice, the circulars, and the Taxes Consolidation Act.

  1. Tax and Duty Manual Part 05-01-06: Travel and subsistenceRevenue (last reviewed September 2026)The three conditions (2.1), normal place of work (2.2), records to keep and the six-year retention (1.3), flat rates without approval (2.5.2), round sums and car allowances (3.3, 3.4), day and overnight tests (4.2), call-outs and taxis (4.4, 4.5), directors (4.6), site-based workers (4.7), intermediaries (4.9), foreign assignments (4.11), non-executive directors (4.13) and the current rates (Appendix 1).
  2. Tax and Duty Manual Part 38-03-33: Returns by employers in relation to reportable benefits (ERR)Revenue (reviewed September 2026)Section 897C TCA 1997; reporting on or before the payment from 1 January 2024; the eight travel and subsistence subcategories (5.3); advance payments.
  3. Circular 04/2025: Domestic Subsistence AllowancesDepartment of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform (copy on revenue.ie)Overnight €205.53, day rates €46.17 and €19.25, and the Dublin vouched accommodation rate, from 29 January 2025.
  4. Circular 16/2022: Revised Motor Travel RatesDepartment of Public Expenditure and Reform (gov.ie)Mileage rates by engine size and distance band from 1 September 2022; electric cars at the 1,201–1,500cc rates, hybrids by engine size.
  5. Tax and Duty Manual Part 05-02-13: Remote working reliefRevenue (last updated May 2026)The office is the work base for hybrid workers; the €3.20 daily payment, its ERR reporting, and its treatment on days travel and subsistence is claimed.
  6. Normal place of workRevenueHow the normal place of work is decided, and when home can be one.
  7. Code of Practice for Revenue Compliance InterventionsRevenue (effective 1 May 2022)Tax-geared penalties under section 1077F (2.13), significant consequences over 15% (4.6.2), and publication under section 1086A (5).
  8. Tax and Duty Manual Part 42-04-66: Re-grossing of emoluments (section 986A)Revenue (last updated November 2024)When disguised pay is re-grossed at the income tax rate, including pay processed as tax-free travel expenses; Example 6.
  9. Guidelines for charging interest on late paymentRevenue (updated May 2025)Employer income tax, PRSI and USC: section 991 TCA 1997, 0.0274% a day.
  10. Section 886 TCA 1997: Obligation to keep certain recordsTaxes Consolidation Act 1997 (consolidated text, TaxSource Total)Six-year retention and the extension while an inquiry, claim or appeal is open (subsection 4); €3,000 penalty (subsection 5).
  11. Section 887 TCA 1997: Use of electronic data processingTaxes Consolidation Act 1997 (consolidated text, TaxSource Total)Electronic records: integrity from when first generated, intelligible display and print, ready access.

Checked against these sources on 10 October 2026. Rates and rules can change with new circulars and Revenue guidance. This is general information, not tax advice; take advice on your own situation.

Keep reading

Related guides and tools

TemplateTravel expense policy

Write the policy the checklist assumes, clause by clause.

Build the policy TemplateMileage log template

A log with a column for each of the six details.

Get the template ERRERR compliance guide

What to report, when, and how to fix a late submission.

Read the guide AuditsRevenue audit triggers

What makes travel expenses stand out in a review.

Read the guide RulesNormal place of work

Commuting, hybrid workers and the lesser-of rule.

Read the guide RatesAll T&S rates for 2026

Every mileage and subsistence rate in one place.

See the rates
Expense.ie

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