1736. Travel expenses
June 2009 – Issue 118
Persons in receipt of allowances for out-of-town travel have, for a number of years, been permitted to claim deduction of subsistence and incidental expenses against such allowances without the necessity of producing evidence of expenditure on the basis that a daily amount is deemed to have been expended during such absences from the place of residence.
New scales were gazetted on 27 February 2009, applicable to the year of assessment commencing 1 March 2009.
For travel within the Republic, where the allowance is granted to defray incidental costs only, a deduction of R80 per day is permitted. In the case of an allowance to defray the cost of meals and incidental expenses, the deduction permitted is R260 per day. In relation to accommodation costs, if these are borne by the employee, it will be incumbent on the employee to claim specific deduction against proof of expenditure.
For travel outside the Republic, the previous blanket amount for all destinations of US$215 per day has been changed. Now the per diem amount in respect of meals and incidental costs is determined by reference to a table that lists nearly 190 destination countries and prescribes a daily rate for each destination, with a default amount of US$215 per day for any country not listed.
The information may be found in Government Notice No. 171 of 2009 published in Government Gazette No. 31 915 of 27 February 2009.
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