At many enterprises, employees are sent on business trips, including abroad. The order of their organization, terms of payment and other important issues are regulated by the Labor Code and a number of regulatory acts. Among the latter, in particular, Government Decree 749 "On official business trips." This act establishes the rules for the compensation of costs incurred by employees of state bodies and institutions sent to another locality for work.
What is a business trip?
The definition of the concept is enshrined in article 166 of the Labor Code. According to the norm, a trip is an employee’s trip on behalf of the employer to perform work outside the place of permanent labor. Referral is for a specific period.
A business trip is not considered to be a trip of workers whose labor activities:
- Carried out in transit.
- It is traveling.
- Not secured by an employment contract.
Accordingly, the provisions on business trips do not apply to them. This document also does not apply to:
- Pregnant employees.
- Minor workers.
- Persons with children under 3 years of age or children with disabilities under 16 years of age.
Regulation on official business trips
It is developed at those enterprises whose activities cannot be carried out without travel of employees in areas remote from a permanent place of employment. The provision on business trips is a local act. The legislation does not provide for its unified form. Therefore, each organization needs to independently develop this document.
Structure
The Regulation on official business trips must contain information about:
- Types of business trips. Employees may be sent to another area of the country or abroad.
- The composition of expenses that are reimbursed to employees.
- Cases in which the employee has the right to refuse the trip.
These items are mandatory for inclusion in the Regulation on business trips. The document may contain other information depending on the specifics of the organization.
Appointment
The provisions on business trips provide a clear regulation of the costs that may be incurred by an employee working in another locality. Information about expenses, in turn, is used to calculate the base of income tax. The fixed costs (payment of accommodation on a business trip, travel, etc.) reduce the size of the taxable base and, accordingly, the amount of tax.
Important point
The regulation developed at the enterprise does not apply to all employees engaged in labor activities outside the place of permanent work. It does not apply if the duration of the trip does not exceed one day, and the trip itself is not carried out in another locality.
Specificity Provisions
As you know, domestic legislation is constantly being improved. Legal acts are periodically amended and amended. On their basis, in turn, local regulatory documents are also adjusted. The Regulation on business trips is no exception. Amendments to this document were made in 2015. The basis was the above-mentioned government decree No. 749.
According to the changes, the head of the enterprise must issue an order before sending the employee on a business trip. It fixes the basic working conditions of the subject in another locality.
Residence
As a rule, people traveling to another locality rent a house or stay at a hotel. A contract of employment or a paid bill is used to determine the actual period of a citizen's stay outside the workplace. These documents are used if the employee does not have travel documents.
The Regulation may establish a minimum daily subsistence allowance for a business trip. This is the amount that is reimbursed to the employee for accommodation. Its minimum size is 550 rubles per day. If the employee does not have documents confirming the fact of living in a hotel or rental housing, the amount of compensation is reduced.
Directions
According to the Regulation on business trips, compensation for moving to another locality and back is made in the amount of actual costs. To receive reimbursement, the employee must provide supporting documents.
Cost recovery is carried out at the expense of the enterprise. Payment for travel on a business trip and back according to the standards enshrined in government decree No. 749 is made from the federal budget. If expenses exceed the norm, the difference is compensated by saving budget funds.
Trip duration
It depends on the specifics of the employee. For example, if it is associated with installation and commissioning, the duration of the trip should not be more than 1 year (calendar). In this case, the days of departure and arrival are included in the indicated period. For other employees, the maximum travel period is no more than 40 days.
If there is a need to extend the trip, at the end of the period established by the Regulation, the employee should be granted vacation for 7 days. Payment for rest is carried out at the expense of the enterprise. After the vacation ends, the employee again goes on a business trip to complete the assignment.
The actual time spent in another locality is established by the marks that are made in the travel certificate. If a citizen is sent to several points in a row, arrival notes must be made at each point.
Departure
The employee goes on a business trip on the basis of an order from the head of the enterprise. The head of the unit in which the citizen works forms a task. It describes the main activities of a person in another locality.
The day before departure, the employee receives a travel certificate. If a citizen returns from a previous trip on the day of departure, the document is executed according to general rules.
Payouts
Together with the immediate supervisor, the employee makes an estimate of the costs. In this case, the norms provided for by the Regulation are taken into account. The decision to increase costs is taken by the head of the enterprise. The basis for its adoption is a memo of the immediate superior of the person being posted.
The cost estimate is approved by the director of the organization and ch. accountant.
The day before departure, the employee receives an advance according to the approved estimate. At the same time, the employee draws up a receipt, which he passes to the accounting department. In it, he agrees to withhold unused advance amounts from his earnings if the deadline for returning the balance is missed.
Additional expenses
If the need arose during the trip, the employee must coordinate the costs with the immediate supervisor. The fact of permission to carry out additional expenses is confirmed by facsimile message, the transmission of which is recorded in the journal of outgoing documentation.
Responsibility for costs in excess of established standards lies with the immediate head of the seconded citizen, who approved them.
Arrival
The employee must return to the workplace the day after returning. A note of arrival on the certificate is made by a personnel officer.
Arriving employee draws up a report on the assignment. The document is drawn up in any form. The report within two days from the date of preparation is submitted to the immediate boss of the arrived employee.
In addition, within 3 days. the employee submits an expense report to the accounting department. Attached to it:
- Travel certificate.
- Documents confirming the costs incurred (employment contract, hotel receipt, travel tickets, etc.).
The head of the enterprise approves the report on costs incurred within the limits of the norms stipulated by the Regulation and the estimate. Expenses incurred by an employee in excess of the established limits and not agreed with the immediate superior are not compensated.
Within three days from the moment of arrival, the employee must deposit the balance of the advance payment (unused funds) to the cashier. If the money is returned later or not returned at all, the amounts are deducted from the salary.
Employee Guarantees
All employees sent on business trips retain their place of employment and earnings. If the amount of the salary during the trip turned out to be less than the accrued on the basis of the salary, the employee is provided with an additional payment up to the required amount (without allowances). It is transferred to the employee from the funds of the enterprise.
Supplement is subject to personal income tax.
The employees on business trips are subject to the rules on work and rest. The time sheet for employees is filled in according to the schedule for the main place of work. Upon arrival of a citizen, the time sheet is adjusted in accordance with the data of the travel certificate.
If a person was sent on a trip to work on holidays or weekends, he is entitled to a surcharge in the amount of a double daily rate. If, on behalf of the employer, a citizen goes on a business trip on a weekend, after returning, he receives a day of rest.
Disability
If the seconded employee is ill, injured, or for other reasons cannot perform the labor function, he is assigned benefits on a general basis. In case of temporary disability, the employee’s trip is interrupted from the first day. The trip resumes the day after recovery.
For the period of incapacity for work, the employee is compensated for the costs of renting a house. The exception is cases when a citizen undergoes treatment in a hospital.
Salary payout
Transfer of funds to a seconded citizen can be carried out:
- By transfer by mail.
- From the cash desk of the enterprise through an authorized person.
- To an account with a bank or other credit institution.
The cost of paying salaries to the seconded employees is borne by the employer.
Per diem
The employee receives for each business trip 800 r. (including holidays and weekends, days on the way, time of forced stops). The amount exceeding the amount established in paragraph 3,217 of the article of the Tax Code is subject to personal income tax.
If the employee is sent to the area from where he can return to the place of permanent residence on a daily basis, per diem is not paid.
other expenses
If there are supporting papers, employees are compensated for the costs of:
- Long-distance telephone calls to a hotel or rented accommodation, from a mobile phone to a direct supervisor in the amount of actual expenses. A supporting document is a call listing provided by your local service provider.
- The cost of using the Internet at the rate of not more than 50 rubles / month.
- Representation costs. They are compensated by the administrative staff. Compensation is carried out in the amount of actual expenses, but not more than 2.5 thousand rubles. per employee.
- Other costs agreed with the immediate chief of the seconded person, approved by the head of the enterprise and Ch. accountant.
Business trips abroad
Compensation of expenses in foreign currency in connection with trips abroad, including advance payment, redemption of its unspent part is made in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Law "On Currency Regulation".
For the period of an employee traveling abroad on a business trip, per diem is paid when traveling through the territory:
- Russia - in the amounts and in the manner established by the Regulation "On the specifics of sending employees on official business trips", approved. government decree No. 749 (para. 2 p. 11 for business trips in the Russian Federation).
- A foreign state - in the amount and in the manner enshrined in the same regulatory act (para. 2 p. 11 for business trips abroad).
When following a citizen from the territory of the Russian Federation, the day of crossing the state border is included in the period for which the per diem is paid in foreign currency. Upon arrival in Russia, the day of border crossing is included in the days for which the transfer is made in rubles. The indicated dates are determined by marks made by the border authorities in the employee’s passport.
If an employee is sent to two or more foreign countries, per diem on the date of crossing the border between countries is calculated in foreign currency according to the norms provided for the territory to which the person is sent.
In the case of sending an employee to the territory of a CIS member state, with whose government an agreement has been concluded, according to which border guards do not mark the entry / exit documentation, the date of crossing the state border is set for travel tickets.
If a business traveler has an involuntary delay on the way, per diem for this time is paid by order of the head of the enterprise in the presence of supporting documents.
An employee who has gone abroad and returned to Russia on the same day, payments are made in the amount of 50% of the norm of expenses. It is determined by the rules provided for in para. 2 p. 11 of the Regulation, approved. Government Decision No. 749
Travel expenses on a foreign trip
The expenses are compensated to the employee according to the rules established by clause 12 of the Regulation, approved by government decree No. 749. Additionally, the employee is compensated for:
- The cost of obtaining a passport, visa, other travel documents.
- Consular fees.
- Fees for entry or transit of vehicles.
- The cost of obtaining health insurance.
- Other required expenses.
Reimbursement of additional costs incurred by an employee sent on a business trip abroad is carried out upon provision of supporting documentation in the manner and amount established by para. 2 11 clauses of the Regulation.
In the event of a temporary disability of a citizen during his stay abroad, he shall be compensated for the cost of renting a living space (hotel accommodation). Payments are made during the entire period when the subject was unable to fulfill his professional duties or was unable to return to his place of permanent residence. The exception is inpatient treatment. Despite the fact that the employee is on a business trip abroad, accrual of temporary disability benefits is made in the manner prescribed by domestic law.
Conclusion
Enterprises forced to send their employees on business trips must have an approved Regulation governing the procedure and conditions for such trips. The presence of such a document will avoid many problems in practice.
The Regulation clearly spells out the procedure and amount of compensatory payments, the rules for the preparation and submission of an advance report, and the reimbursement of additional costs. All this is of practical importance for the enterprise.