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Travel expense accounting in Germany
March 27, 2025
Often on business trips? Travel expense claims are nerve-wracking. We tell you which incidental travel expenses are reimbursable.
The travel expense report covers all costs incurred during and as a result of a business trip. This includes accommodation costs, additional expenses for meals as well as travel and incidental travel expenses. You can find out exactly what you can claim and what differences there are for business trips at home and abroad here.
What is a travel expense report?
Whenever there is a business trip, there are also costs that can be noted and reimbursed in the travel expense report or through the travel expense allowance. For employees, this is done by the employer, for self-employed persons by claiming them in the tax return. However, if you want to have all costs reimbursed in full, you need to take a few things into account.
A travel expense report is a compilation of all costs incurred during a business trip. These are made up of lump sums and receipts for travel expenses, additional meals and overnight stays. The aim is to determine the total costs of the business trip and reimburse them accordingly.
A business trip is when the employee temporarily works outside their usual place of work and is not the same as a business trip or commute. Typical business trips are, for example, customer appointments outside the city limits, personal meetings with customers outside the employee’s own company, trips to branches of the company or visits to trade fairs, conferences and training courses.
Business trips are considered to be longer than the journey to the regular place of work.
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Since travel expense accounting is always time-consuming, there are a few things you need to bear in mind to avoid getting bogged down – in the truest sense of the word.
Therefore, the first tip is: Have all receipts, bookings and receipts issued and keep them. And remember that a lump sum for travel expenses only applies if you do not spend more than 3 months away from your usual place of work. After this period, the place of work is considered to be your regular place of work.
However, there is an exception if the employee changes their place of work several times. Appropriate evidence is required for this.
In order to be able to claim the costs, you should have information in advance about what should be included in the travel expense report.
- Travel costs (car, train, plane, rental car, cab, Uber, tolls and parking fees)
- Accommodation costs
- Additional meal expenses
- Incidental travel expenses
- Telephone and Internet costs
- Entrance fee (professional event, trade fair, exhibition)
- Tips
- Fees for lockers
- Compensation in the event of a traffic accident
- Theft
- Luggage insurance
However, the following are not refundable: fines, massages, meal vouchers, minibar and items for personal entertainment.
Further information on travel expense reimbursement
Travel expenses are subject to certain regulations that sound complicated at first glance, but are generally easy to implement.
There are three different ways of logging:
- Flat rate per kilometer: 30 cents per kilometer by car, 20 cents per kilometer by motorcycle. Since 2015, there has been no allowance for the passenger.
- Logging via a driver’s logbook: Here, the vehicle-specific mileage rate is used for calculation.
- Logbook for recording the actual expenditure.
The simplest option is the first one, which is calculated using the mileage allowance. Ultimately, however, either everyone has to decide this for themselves or the company has already contractually stipulated a preferred method. Before you set off on your first business trip, you should have clarified this internally in advance.
But be careful: you have to be very thorough with the logbook, otherwise the tax office may request further checks. You should also take great care to ensure that private journeys are strictly separated from business journeys.
Which data should be kept in the logbook:
- Date of the trip
- Departure and destination of the business trip
- Purpose of the business trip (name of the customer, occasion)
- Vehicle driver, if it is not a personal car
- Mileage at the beginning and end of the trip
Additional meal expenses
As the name suggests, this is about the additional expenditure and not the complete catering. There are two models to be considered.
If you are traveling for less than 24 hours, the small flat rate applies.
If you are traveling for more than 24 hours , the large flat rate applies.
A business traveler is entitled to € 12 per day from 8 hours “outside the center of his permanent activity”.
From 24 hours, this amount doubles to €24 per day.
This applies to Germany; different daily rates apply abroad, which vary from country to country. The additional expenses for meals can be claimed if you provide appropriate proof. However, if you are invited to a meal, the flat rate is reduced by 20-40% depending on the meal.
Other lump sums apply abroad, as the Federal Ministry of Finance published in a letter. It states that the lump sum of the place that is reached before midnight local time is decisive. This means that if you stay in Belgium for more than 24 hours, you will receive €42 for additional meal expenses, except on the day of arrival or departure, when it is €28. If you travel on to Denmark from there, you will receive €58, or €39 on the day of travel. So if you reach Denmark before midnight local time, you can already claim the Danish arrival fee, which is €10 higher than in Belgium.
This might also interest you: More information on additional meal expenses in Germany
Reduction of meal allowances
As already mentioned above, the additional meal allowance only applies if you can prove that you paid for the meals yourself. However, if you were invited to breakfast, the lump sum is reduced by 20%. If it is lunch or dinner, 40% is deducted in each case. So if you are invited to eat throughout the day, you cannot claim 100% of your additional meal expenses.
Employers may increase these lump sums for their employees as long as the double amount is not exceeded. A maximum of €24 for the small lump sum and a maximum of €48 for the large lump sum are therefore theoretically possible.
Employers may increase these lump sums for their employees as long as the double amount is not exceeded. A maximum of €24 for the small lump sum and a maximum of €48 for the large lump sum are therefore theoretically possible.
Are there additional regulations?
Yes, because additional meal expenses may only be claimed for the first 3 months of a business trip. If the trip is planned to last 6 months, for example, the lump sums will only compensate for the additional meal expenses for the first half of the trip
Exception: If the trip is interrupted for 4 weeks. Then you can benefit from the lump sum again for 3 months from this period.
