Subsistence allowances and advances
Where the recipient is obliged to spend at least one night away from his or her usual place of residence on business, and the accommodation to which that allowance or advance relates is in the Republic of South Africa, and the allowance or advance is granted to pay for meals and incidental costs or incidental costs only, an amount, published on the SARS website www.sars.gov.za, under Legal Counsel / Secondary Legislation / Income Tax Notices / Determination of the daily amount in respect of meals and incidental costs, is deemed to have been expended per day.
Where the accommodation to which that allowance or advance relates is outside the Republic of South Africa, a specific amount per country is deemed to have been expended. Details of these amounts are published on the SARS website www.sars.gov.za, under Legal Counsel / Secondary Legislation / Income Tax Notices
/ Determination of the daily amount in respect of meals and incidental costs.
Where the recipient is by reason of the duties of his or her office or employment obliged to spend a part of a day away from his or her usual place of work or employment, a reimbursement or advance for expenditure actually incurred by the recipient is exempt if the recipient is allowed by his or her principal to incur expenditure on meals and other incidental costs for that part of a day and the amount of the expenditure does not exceed an amount published on the SARS website www.sars.gov.za, under Legal Counsel / Secondary Legislation / Income Tax Notices / Determination of the daily amount in respect of meals and incidental costs.
Travelling allowance
Rates per kilometre, which may be used in determining the allowable deduction for business travel against an allowance or advance where actual costs are not claimed, are determined using the table published on the SARS website www.sars.gov.za, under Legal Counsel / Secondary Legislation / Income Tax Notices / Fixing of rate per kilometre in respect of motor vehicles.
Note:
• 80% of the travelling allowance must be included in the employee’s remuneration for the purposes of calculating PAYE. The percentage is reduced to 20% if the employer is satisfied that at least 80% of the use of the motor vehicle for the tax year will be for business purposes.
No fuel cost may be claimed if the employee has not borne the full cost of fuel used in the vehicle, and no maintenance cost may be claimed if the employee has not borne the full cost of maintaining the vehicle (e.g. if the vehicle is covered by a maintenance plan).
• The fixed cost must be reduced on a pro-rata basis if the vehicle
is used for business purposes for less than a full year.
• The actual distance travelled during a tax year, and the distance travelled for business purposes substantiated by a logbook, are used to determine the costs which may be claimed against a travelling allowance.
Alternatively:
Where an allowance or advance is based on the actual distance travelled by the employee for business purposes, no tax is payable on an allowance paid by an employer to an employee, up to the rate published on the SARS website www.sars.gov.za, under Legal Counsel / Secondary Legislation / Income Tax Notices / Fixing of rate per kilometre in respect of motor vehicles, regardless of the value of the vehicle. However, this alternative is not available if other compensation in the form of an allowance or reimbursement (other than for parking or toll fees) is received from the employer in respect of the vehicle.
Other deductions
Other than the deductions set out above, an individual may only claim deductions against employment income or allowances in limited specified situations, e.g. bad debt in respect of salary