HMRC has a nice document on these. Scale rate expenses payments: employee travelling outside the UK - GOV.UK
I've searched the forum and this has been discussed but there seem to be different answers. I've always ignored this but I'm about to be spending more time than I'd like in New York and San Francisco. I may also be sending an employee to LA and/or Chicago, at times. I usually just use actual cost but the scale rates seem pretty generous so if it is going to happen a lot it seems worth considering.
I think you used to need a dispensation to use scale rates, but I don't know if that is still the case.
It's mostly going to be in one day and out the next. So, let's put arms and legs on this with some specific examples.
New York trip 1: Fly over early, arriving at noon. Stay one night, fly out at 3 pm. Total stay in NY 27 hours.
Option 1 (what I've always done before):
Company pays for taxi to hotel, lunch on arrival, transportation to and from client both days, hotel, dinner, breakfast, and lunch before departure.
Option 2 (what I think the scale rates allow):
I pay everything except taxi to hotel, company pays that. Company pays me £102.5 (24 hour scale rate) plus £216 (room scale rate) plus (since lunch one day falls outside the 24-hour range) £27 (lunch scale rate).
New York trip 2: Fly over early, arriving at noon. Stay one night, stay for late meeting/dinner the next evening, fly out at 10:30 pm. Suppose the only flight I can get that late connects through Lisbon. Total stay in NY 34.5 hours.
Scale rate option:
Company pays taxi to hotel.
Company pays me £102.5 (24 hour) plus 76.5 (over 10 hours). Because I have to get lunch in Lisbon, also 22.5 (scale rate for lunch in Lisbon).
Is that correct, or is there something I'm missing? As I said, there seem to have been some different opinions on the forum but a dearth of links with hard and fast answers.
I've searched the forum and this has been discussed but there seem to be different answers. I've always ignored this but I'm about to be spending more time than I'd like in New York and San Francisco. I may also be sending an employee to LA and/or Chicago, at times. I usually just use actual cost but the scale rates seem pretty generous so if it is going to happen a lot it seems worth considering.
I think you used to need a dispensation to use scale rates, but I don't know if that is still the case.
It's mostly going to be in one day and out the next. So, let's put arms and legs on this with some specific examples.
New York trip 1: Fly over early, arriving at noon. Stay one night, fly out at 3 pm. Total stay in NY 27 hours.
Option 1 (what I've always done before):
Company pays for taxi to hotel, lunch on arrival, transportation to and from client both days, hotel, dinner, breakfast, and lunch before departure.
Option 2 (what I think the scale rates allow):
I pay everything except taxi to hotel, company pays that. Company pays me £102.5 (24 hour scale rate) plus £216 (room scale rate) plus (since lunch one day falls outside the 24-hour range) £27 (lunch scale rate).
New York trip 2: Fly over early, arriving at noon. Stay one night, stay for late meeting/dinner the next evening, fly out at 10:30 pm. Suppose the only flight I can get that late connects through Lisbon. Total stay in NY 34.5 hours.
Scale rate option:
Company pays taxi to hotel.
Company pays me £102.5 (24 hour) plus 76.5 (over 10 hours). Because I have to get lunch in Lisbon, also 22.5 (scale rate for lunch in Lisbon).
Is that correct, or is there something I'm missing? As I said, there seem to have been some different opinions on the forum but a dearth of links with hard and fast answers.
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