Travel and subsistence

Site-based employees

Site-based employees do not have a fixed base and perform their work duties at different locations. These duties generally last for periods longer than one day.

An employer can pay an employee tax free expenses of travel and subsistence, (known as 'country money' in the construction industry), not exceeding the approved rate. In order to qualify for these expenses, the employee must be:

• working at a site 32 km (20 miles) or more from the employer base
• or
• working 32 km or more from the General Post Office (GPO), if the employee is Dublin based.

Approved country money rates:

• €36.34 per day for four days or less.
• or
• €181.68 per week for more than four days.

Exclusions

An employer cannot pay an employee tax-free expenses of travel and subsistence if:

• the employee does not have to pay to travel to and from the site (for example, if the employer provides the transport)
• the employer provides the employee with board and lodgings
• or 
• the employee was recruited to work at one site only.

Employers must retain records relating to the payment of country money for six years.

Eating on site

An employer may pay an ‘eating on site’ allowance, tax free, to site-based employees in some sectors of the economy if:

• the employer does not provide facilities for making tea, coffee, or other refreshments
• the employee does not receive any other form of tax-free subsistence payment
• the employee works on the site for at least 1.5 hours before and 1.5 hours after their normal lunch break
• and
• the employer pays a maximum allowance of €5 per day.

Next: Voluntary work