Business trip by personal transport. The legislative framework
Chapter 24 of the Labor Code is devoted to business trips, which in its articles defines such a business trip and also establishes:
- guarantees for an employee when he is sent on a business trip;
- procedure for reimbursement of travel expenses in various conditions of business trips.
The general norms of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation are specified in the Regulations on the specifics of sending employees on business trips (approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of October 13, 2008 No. 749) - the main document establishing the procedure for sending employees to another location to perform tasks.
ATTENTION! The employer must prescribe the procedure for processing and paying for a business trip in a local regulatory act, for example, in the regulations on business trips. Read about the nuances of document preparation in the material “How to draw up a business trip regulation.”
Reimbursement Instructions
Write-off of fuel and lubricants
Writing off fuel and lubricants when traveling on a business trip in your own car occurs in exactly the same way as when using official vehicles.
To calculate gasoline costs, the employee provides a completed waybill and receipts from gas stations.
The amount of reimbursement for fuel expenses remains at the discretion of the company; for tax purposes, these expenses will be reflected as reimbursement of funds spent when traveling by personal car, but not expenses for a business trip. The Tax Code of the Russian Federation says that reimbursement of such expenses is possible in accordance with the standards established by the Government.
So, for a car with an engine capacity of more than 2000 cc. compensation not exceeding one and a half thousand rubles per month is due.
Anything above this amount is not considered an expense and is taken into account when calculating taxes.
You can still count the expenses as reimbursement for business travel expenses to include them in your taxable base.
The organization should issue a regulation providing for this possibility. A company that decides to go this route must be prepared to prove the economic justification of these costs.
A waybill indicating the route, as a rule, is quite suitable for this from a tax point of view.
When including payment for fuel and lubricants in travel expenses, it is also important to state in the local law that during a business trip, payment for the use of a personal car is not made, and all actual expenses relate specifically to travel expenses.
How to calculate average salary? Read our article. What are the pros and cons of the lump sum wage system? Find out here.
How is payment for a part-time business trip made? See here.
Do I need to enter into a car rental agreement?
There are 2 answers to the question “Should I enter into an agreement with an employee to rent a personal car?”
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- It is safer to conclude an agreement and specify the amount of compensation. The amount of compensation for fuel and lubricants can be any, but only standard indicators can be taken into account in expenses:
- 1,200 rub. per month - if the engine volume is less than 2000 cm 3;
- 1,500 rub. per month - in case of exceeding 2,000 cm3.
IMPORTANT! Be sure to take a copy of the car registration certificate (Letter of the Ministry of Finance dated January 23, 2018 N 03-04-05/3235).
2. If an agreement is not concluded, then the employee is paid the entire amount for gasoline according to the advance report. The same amount is taken into account in tax expenses. In this case, disputes with tax authorities are possible, because They recommend paying for fuel and lubricants in accordance with the standards in this case as well.
In any case, issue a waybill. The document will serve as proof of real gasoline costs, because it indicates mileage, route, etc.
“Tax” sticks in the wheels
According to current rules, tax deductions are taken from the amount of profit minus expenses incurred by the company, including compensation for travel expenses. It should be taken into account that only amounts within the limits established by law are deducted from the tax base. All funds allocated above are not regarded as expenses of the enterprise.
Personal income tax and other social benefits are not deducted from funds accrued to an employee as compensation for travel expenses. contributions, since these amounts are not regarded as the worker’s profit. However, due to the fact that a number of payment standards are advisory in nature, and some regulations lack clear wording, this may lead to controversial situations.
Regarding payment of an employee’s expenses for fuel and lubricants when using personal transport on a business trip, the employer can go in two ways. In the first case, he enters into an agreement with the employee to use his car as a service vehicle. This document provides for the payment of certain compensation to the employee. In addition, the agreement may stipulate that expenses in excess of the established amount are paid based on the supporting documents provided.
It should be taken into account that when calculating the tax base in this case, the norms established by law will be used in the amount of:
- 1200 rub. per month – for a passenger car with an engine capacity of up to 2 thousand cubic meters. cm.;
- 1500 rub. per month - for vehicles with an engine capacity of over 2 thousand cubic meters. cm.
Since the amounts are indicated for the month of the business trip, when calculating the amount of compensation, it will be determined in proportion to the duration of the trip. All amounts paid above the established maximum, according to Letter of the Ministry of Finance No. 03-03-06/1/39239 of the Russian Federation dated September 23, 2013, will affect the tax base.
This option, from the point of view of legislation, is the most correct, but it involves an increase in the company’s expenses, since a significant part of the expenses associated with travel compensation are not taken into account when calculating the company’s profit tax.
There is another option. An agreement for the use of an employee’s transport as a company car is not concluded and all expenses confirmed by relevant documents are compensated in full. In this case, expenses for fuel and lubricants are regarded as ordinary travel expenses, compensation for which is considered expenses for travel to the destination and back.
Since issuing an advance report for a business trip in a personal car is the employee’s responsibility, and it involves the provision of all documents confirming travel expenses, he has every right to include expenses for fuel and lubricants among them. At the same time, state taxes will not be deducted from the amount of compensation accrued to the employee. fees, but they will be taken into account in full in the base for calculating the employer’s income tax.
This will significantly reduce expenses when paying taxes. However, using this calculation option, the employer consciously takes a risk. When conducting a tax audit, such actions are likely to attract the attention of Federal Tax Service employees, which can cause a number of problems.
Features of preparing a waybill for a business trip in your car
If an employee goes on a business trip in his own car, it is strongly recommended to issue a waybill. Despite the fact that the tax service does not require the submission of such a document when checking an organization’s expenses, with a completed waybill it will be much easier to confirm both the fact of using the car for business purposes and the given calculation of gasoline consumption.
The waybill is drawn up in a form approved by Decree of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation dated November 28, 1997 No. 78, or independently developed by the organization. The use of the waybill form developed at the enterprise is permitted by the Ministry of Finance of Russia (letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated August 25, 2009 No. 03-03-06/2/161) provided that the document contains the mandatory details established by the order of the Ministry of Transport of Russia dated September 11, 2021. No. 368 (recall that until 2021 Order No. 152 dated September 18, 2008 was in force).
Such details include (Section 1 of Order No. 368 of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation):
- name and number of the waybill;
- information about the validity period of the document;
- information about the car owner;
- vehicle information;
- driver information;
- transportation information.
How to issue a waybill for a passenger car, see here.
Supporting documents
All facts of economic life (including travel expenses) must be confirmed by primary documents (Article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ, Article 252 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). These include:
- cash and (or) sales receipts;
- gasoline coupons;
- slips (if gasoline was paid for with a fuel card);
- receipts issued at parking lots;
- auto repair shop bills, etc.
The employee must attach documents confirming travel expenses to the advance report.
The mileage of the car during a business trip is confirmed by waybills. Prepare your waybills:
– either according to standardized forms;
– or according to forms developed by the organization independently and approved by the head of the organization.
This conclusion follows from Part 4 of Article 9 of the Law of December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ.
The following standardized forms are provided for waybills:
- No. 3 for a passenger car;
- No. 3 special for special vehicles;
- No. 4 for passenger taxi;
- No. 4-S or No. 4-P for a truck;
- No. 6 special for buses (except for route buses).
The listed forms of waybills were approved by Decree of the State Statistics Committee of Russia dated November 28, 1997 No. 78.
The issuance of waybills to drivers and their receipt by the accounting department should be reflected in the logbook for recording the movement of waybills (either according to an independently developed form, or according to Form No. 8, approved by Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of Russia dated November 28, 1997 No. 78).
How do you go on a business trip?
As of January 1, 2016, some documents previously issued for business trips were canceled. So, now there is no need to formalize:
- official assignment;
- travel certificate;
- trip report.
In addition, the obligation to keep a log of posted workers has been abolished. To be fair, it is worth noting that some employers remained faithful to the previous procedure for documenting business trips and established the obligation to draw up the listed documents by internal orders of the organizations. However, even in such cases, the main document for sending on a business trip from the point of view of legislation is an order.
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The specific form of the order is not approved by law. In this case, enterprises prefer to use unified forms of order No. T9 (on sending an employee on a business trip) or No. T9a (on sending a group of employees on a business trip), approved. Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation dated 01/05/2004 No. 1, although from 01/01/2013 the use of forms of primary accounting documents is not mandatory.
The T-9 form can be downloaded from the link below.
In any case, the order must indicate the following information (Article 9 of the Law “On Accounting” dated December 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ):
- name of company;
- date of preparation and number of the administrative document;
- employee details, name of his position;
- information about the place where the employee is sent to complete the task;
- duration of the business trip (dates of departure and arrival);
- purpose of the trip;
- details of the use of transport (personal, business, public, etc.);
- information about the organization that will reimburse the employee for travel expenses.
The order is signed by the head of the organization or an authorized employee. The posted worker must also sign the order, thus confirming the fact of familiarization with it.
A sample of filling out an order on form T-9 can be downloaded from the link below.
Procedure for registration of a business trip
First of all, the head of the company writes an order to send the employee on a trip in a personal car. It can be drawn up in free form or on T-9 form. After review, the employee expresses consent by signing the document. Additionally, you can issue a work assignment and a travel certificate.
The second stage is drawing up a waybill. This is a distinctive feature of business trips in a personal or company car. After this, the amount of the advance payment for gasoline and the citizen’s accommodation is agreed upon.
An employee returning from a trip must submit a waybill or expense report to the accounting department within three days. These documents contain information about the money spent. Checks and receipts must be attached to account for costs. If the advance amount is exceeded, the organization undertakes to pay the difference within three days. If there is a balance on the advance payment, the employee will have to return it.
List of documents
Using a personal car involves preparing the documents necessary to complete a business trip. These include:
- order to dispatch an employee;
- waybill;
- a copy of the vehicle registration certificate (confirmation of vehicle ownership);
- receipts and checks confirming expenses.
Additionally, a memo and an advance report can be drawn up.
Reimbursement of travel expenses
According to Art. 168 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and clause 11 of Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 749, the posted employee is reimbursed for the following expenses:
- for travel in both directions;
- for renting housing;
- daily allowance;
- other expenses determined by the employer.
Each organization sets the daily allowance amount independently (with the exception of government agencies). At the same time, it is important to remember that in accordance with the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (clause 3 of Article 217), only amounts in the amount of 700 rubles for business trips in Russia and 2,500 rubles for business trips abroad are not subject to tax on the income of individuals. Amounts above these standards are subject to taxation.
Upon returning from a business trip, the employee must submit an advance report to the accounting department, which is drawn up according to form No. AO-1, approved. Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation dated August 1, 2001 No. 55. The following must be attached to the report:
- documents confirming housing expenses (receipts from the hotel or receipts for receiving money if the housing was rented from an individual);
- receipts for fuel and lubricants;
- waybill;
- memo.
The memo is intended to confirm the duration of the business trip. Such a document is drawn up in any form, however, in order to avoid misunderstandings during tax audits, it is recommended to establish the form of an internal memo in the internal documents of the organization.
An example of a service design:
If several employees were sent on a business trip in a personal car, then the waybill is issued only for the driver. Accordingly, if only the driver paid for gasoline, other business travelers should not submit receipts for payment for fuel and lubricants. If repairs to a personal vehicle are required during a business trip, maintenance costs will be reimbursed by the employer as part of the vehicle use agreement concluded between the employer and employee. Also, by agreement, the employee may be compensated for expenses associated with an accident that occurred while on a business trip (of course, if it was not the fault of the posted employee).
How are costs reimbursed?
If an employee goes on a business trip in a personal car, the employer undertakes to reimburse the expenses incurred by the subordinate. Calculation of compensation payments for expenses is carried out on the basis of documents submitted by the employee. These include:
- Waybill filled out with the necessary information;
- A copy of the technical passport of the vehicle that was used on the business trip. The act is presented by the employee to confirm the fact that the car is his personal property;
- Advance report, if the employer requires you to fill it out;
- Service note. Issued on the initiative of the head of the organization;
- Receipts, checks and other acts confirming the employee’s expenses for the purchase of fuels and lubricants, food, accommodation and other unscheduled expenses, for example, payment for repair work or the purchase of required parts.
Proper documentation is transferred to the accounting department no later than three days from the moment the subordinate returns from a business trip in a personal car.
The question of how to take into account fuels and lubricants when using a personal car on a business trip deserves special attention. The amount of funds to pay for fuel and lubricants is established based on: distance from the destination, cost of fuel, engine size and time spent performing work duties. This procedure was approved by the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation in the content of Order No. AM - 23 - r .
The amount of payments for the use of a personal vehicle for a business trip should not exceed 1,500 rubles per month. If the expenses incurred by the employee exceed the designated amount, they are subject to tax. This applies to business trips of a subordinate in a personal car within Russia. If a work trip is planned outside the Russian Federation, amounts over 2,500 rubles are subject to tax. The basis for providing compensation is the order of the manager.
In case of an accident or repair
Before sending a subordinate on a business trip in a personal car, the company director must make sure that he has an insurance policy for the car. Because this will help to avoid additional costs in the event of a traffic accident for which the employee was not found to be at fault.
The employer undertakes to compensate for damage incurred by the employee if there was a preliminary agreement or the corresponding condition is specified in the content of the employment contract. If an employee sent on a business trip in a personal car causes an accident, compensation payments are not provided.
In addition to the possibility of reimbursement of expenses in case of emergency situations, the employee must separately negotiate the conditions for payment of compensation as a result of a machine breakdown. Such cases are often considered controversial, since the director cannot be sure that the damage did not occur as a result of a long-standing breakdown. In any case, if an employee intends to return unplanned funds spent, he is required to provide documents, checks, receipts indicating the amount of losses.
KVR
One of the essential requirements of the approved structure of types of expenses, enshrined in clause 46.5 of Procedure No. 85n, is the reflection of travel expenses * (4), as follows:
- issuance of cash to seconded workers (employees) (or transfer to a bank card) on account of the guaranteed expenses listed above - according to CVR 112 “Other payments to personnel of institutions, with the exception of the wage fund”, 122 “Other payments to personnel of state (municipal) authorities, with the exception of the wage fund", 134 "Other payments to military personnel and employees with special ranks" and 142 "Other payments to personnel, with the exception of the wage fund" (see also clause 48.1.1.2, clause 48.1.2.2, clause 48.1.4.2 clause 48 of Order No. 85n);
- payment for the purchase of tickets for travel to and from the place of business trip and (or) rental of residential premises for seconded workers under agreements (contracts) - according to KVR 244 “Other procurement of goods, works and services”.
Thus, Procedure No. 85n clearly establishes the use of various CVRs when reimbursing an employee’s expenses and when an institution purchases services for him under a contract.
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Note! According to clause 46.5 of Procedure No. 85n, the list of other expenses incurred by a posted employee with the permission or knowledge of the employer, attributable to CVR 112, 122, 134 or 142, is determined by the employer in a collective agreement or local regulation (due to the specifics of the activities of individual main managers of budget funds - in a normative legal act). That is, if the relevant act does not indicate certain expenses incurred by an employee on a business trip with the knowledge of the employer, they cannot be attributed to CVR 112, 122, 134 or 142. In this case, the expenses will be attributed to CVR 244 * (5) .
As we can see, the attribution of travel expenses can be carried out according to various CVR and KOSGU, depending on whether funds are issued (compensated) to the employee or whether the institution purchases services for him. And the procedure for attributing other expenses incurred by an employee on a business trip depends on the availability of a list of such expenses, enshrined in the relevant act, and the presence of specific expenses in such an act.
Along with the above, it is interesting that if the purpose of the business trip is the purchase of material supplies, for example, fuels and lubricants, then the purchase costs should be reflected according to KVR 244 and subarticle 343 of KOSGU (letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated March 15, 2019 No. 02-05-10/17872 ).
Let us remind you that the CWR and KOSGU expenditure subitems are used in mutual coordination. In this regard, we advise you to always check the CVR for coordination with the articles (sub-articles) of the KOSGU according to what is posted by the Ministry of Finance of Russia on its official website (www.minfin.ru). Please note: the table of correspondence between the CWR and the articles (subarticles) of the KOSGU related to expenses often undergoes changes. At the time of preparation of the material, the correspondence table posted on the website of the Ministry of Finance of Russia on 04/09/2020 is valid (Budget - Budget classification of the Russian Federation - Methodological office).
KOSGU
As noted above, travel expenses are considered in the context of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation as reimbursements (compensations) related to the employee’s performance of work duties. In international statistical practice, such payments are not considered as payments in the interests of employees, but belong to the category of expenses made by the employee for the purpose of performing work duties. In this regard, reimbursement of expenses related to business trips (travel, accommodation, other expenses related to the performance of official assignments on a business trip), starting in 2021, were transferred to subarticle 226 “Other work, Other payments” * (3) KOSGU ( clause 7, clause 10.2.6 clause 10 of Procedure No. 209n, clause 2.1.4 of the Methodological recommendations for the procedure for applying KOSGU, communicated by letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated June 29, 2018 No. 02-05-10/45153).
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If we are not talking about reimbursement of expenses, but about providing the employee with everything necessary before a business trip (when the institution independently purchases tickets, pays for a hotel, etc.), then the institution’s expenses will include, in particular:
- to subarticle 222 “Transport Other work, Payment for work, services” of KOSGU, articles and subarticles of group 300 “Receipt of non-financial assets” of KOSGU, based on the economic sense.
Note! Expenses regarding daily allowances are still included in subarticle 212 “Other non-social payments to staff in cash” of KOSGU (clause 10.1.2 clause 10 of Procedure No. 209n).