The complete guide to corporate mileage reimbursement

We’re hitting the road more than ever before. In the US alone, motorists now drive more than three trillion miles every year, and a huge chunk of this travel is for work—it’s essential for employers to have a sound company mileage reimbursement policy in place.Mileage reimbursement can benefit both employees and business owners. For employees, it provides compensation when they put their personal vehicle to business use. At the same time, it offers companies tax-deduction benefits.However, the rules on mileage reimbursement can be more complicated than other forms of business travel, which merely require employees to provide a receipt when filing their moving expenses. The sheer number of relevant articles and how-to guides available show how challenging this topic can be.In this guide, we will provide a definitive overview of what the system entails, so employers know exactly how to reimburse employees for mileage, and their people know how to claim properly when using their own vehicles for business driving.

In the US, UK, and many other countries, business expenses are usually tax-deductible. When taxpayers travel by plane, train, or taxi, they can claim the money back and their employer can claim tax relief.Corporate mileage reimbursement schemes extend this benefit to personal vehicles. When employees use their personal car, van, or bike for day-to-day business activities, they can claim back the cost without paying income tax.An important point to note here is that mileage reimbursement isn’t designed to cover commuting to and from work. It is designed to cover the journeys that employees make during work, specifically those with a business purpose (unfortunately you can’t claim travel expenses for going to the gym or picking up food at lunchtime).The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which regulates mileage reimbursement in the US, states that to qualify as a business journey, a trip must be 1) ordinary, which means it is common or accepted in the industry, and 2) necessary, which means it is appropriate or helpful to the company.These can include a variety of trips, including:The mileage reimbursement regulations also state that the majority of the journey has to be work-related—so if you stop off to pick up some office equipment on the way back from visiting your parents, that doesn’t count.It’s important to stress the importance of good record-keeping at this point. In the US, the IRS expects employees to maintain a mileage log, with four distinct details:The mileage log can be written down with pen or paper, or on a computer. The important thing is that they are noted at the time.

In most cases, no. Most countries have refrained from making mileage reimbursement a formal requirement.In the US, there is only one instance when an employer is federally required to pay mileage reimbursement to employees: when failure to do so will mean that their earnings dip below the minimum wage. Otherwise, there is no federal law that obliges companies to compensate for mileage (although several states have passed their own laws, including California and Massachusetts).The majority of employers will pay mileage even though they’re not required to. If they choose not to reimburse an employee for using their private vehicle, or indeed for any business expenses, they risk losing staff and damaging their brand.

When paying mileage reimbursement at the end of the year, an employer doesn’t need to work out the value of each journey or the amount the employee has spent. They can simply multiply each employee’s total number of miles by their country’s approved corporate mileage rate, which is also known as the business rate and most commonly as the standard mileage rate.The standard mileage rate is set by the IRS in the US and by national revenue agencies in other countries. It provides an approved benchmark for tax-deductible reimbursement: in other words, a maximum amount that employers can pay out tax-free.Employers can set their own figures if they so choose. But if they exceed the standard mileage rate, the reimbursement will count as regular wages and lose its tax-free benefits (if they go below the rate, employees in many countries can deduct their difference when filing their tax return).In the US, the current

IRS business mileage rate

is as follows:Here are some examples of the

optional standard mileage rates in Europe

:For countries like France and Ireland, the rate depends on the type of vehicle used. For the Netherlands, a mileage allowance of €0.21 or less per kilometer is tax-free. However, if an allowance exceeds €0.21 per kilometer, the Dutch tax authorities will regard the excess as taxable wages.

In many countries, the approved corporate mileage rate is the most viable option. However, in the US there is an alternative known as Fixed and Variable Rate Reimbursement, or Favr. Employees receive a core rate to compensate for their fixed costs, supplemented by per-mile payments based on the variable costs in their postcode area.Advocates of Favr suggest that it is more accurate than the

standard mileage rate

because it is tailored to the actual costs that employees face in their locality (a particular advantage for teams spread over large areas). However, Favr takes a bit more work than the standard mileage rate and tends to penalize drivers over long distances.Taxpayers can actually switch between the two, but only if they use the standard mileage rate in their car’s first year in service. Thereafter, they are free to calculate their actual expenses if they want - or compare the two and work out which is best for them!

If the mileage reimbursement falls within the approved rate then no, it does not need to pass payroll. If the reimbursement exceeds the standard mileage rate, however, then it is regarded as remuneration, and the element of ‘profit’ comes into play.We should stress, however, that US companies must set up an accountable plan before beginning their mileage reimbursement. Otherwise, any payments for travel and other expenses are treated as supplemental wages, which makes them taxable.

With

freelancing on the rise

, this question is more relevant than ever. The good news is that, in the US and other countries such as the UK,

self-employed people

can claim the same rate as payrolled staff.As a contractor (or indeed subcontractor) you can claim for a variety of journeys providing they qualify as ordinary and necessary moving expenses.

Examples

include:Self-employed taxpayers can claim their mileage expenses on their tax return by working out the amount they’ve spent on gas, maintenance, and repairs over the whole year, or by calculating how much of their overall driving is for work.Ok, that’s all! We hope we’ve answered all your questions about mileage reimbursement and its many mysteries. Happy driving… and happy earning!