Working in the Netherlands: Travel expenses (part 1)

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It is not compulsory, but most companies in the Netherlands reimburse the costs of travel for their employees. Agreements regarding travel allowances are defined in the collective agreements, company regulations or in your labour contract.

In the next two articles, we want to inform you about travel expenses and company cars. This article will focus on private transportation.

Travel by private transport

When travelling by private transportation, it is common to receive an untaxed fee. This fee may not exceed the maximum of € 0,19 per kilometre.

It does not matter if you are commuting to and from work or travelling to a client or business meeting.

The tax-free reimbursement of € 0,19 per kilometre does not apply to:
› Additional kilometres, such as employees’ private travel (bringing children to school, etc...)
› Employers who reimburse (parts of) their employee's travel as a fixed fee.

For commuting, your employer can reimburse a fixed allowance based on the rules outlined by the tax authorities. The most used calculation method is as follows:

(number of kilometres one way x 2) x € 0,19 x 214 working days / 12 months x part-time percentage = untaxed fixed travel allowance per month

To calculate the fixed travel allowance, the calculation uses 214 working days. Public holidays, along with holiday and sick days are already considered in the equation.

In the case an employee's absence, due to sickness for example, the travel allowance can be paid for another six weeks before being stopped.

Other fees

Additional travel expenses your employer reimburses in addition to the € 0,19 per kilometre, will be labelled and taxed as salary.

This includes fees for parking, tolls, fees for (additional) depreciation of the car and extra fuel consumption by a trailer or vehicle damage.

Parking expenses and final levy

When an employee has parking expenses with a company car, these are seen as intermediary costs and can be reimbursed tax-free. However, this is different when an employee acquires parking expenses with his own private car.

When the employer reimburses € 0,19 per kilometre, parking expenses are deemed to be included in this reimbursement.

When an employee declares parking expenses, for example for a client visit, the parking expenses are taxable and need to be included in the payroll with a final levy.

Reimbursing parking expenses or a permit at the home of the employee should be taxed on your payslip.

Would you like to know more about net compensations for business travel, or maybe you’re not sure about what you’re entitled to as an employee? Don’t hesitate to contact   Dutch Umbrella Company:
› Telephone: +3120 820 15 60
› Email: [email protected]