The following contains five examples of travel situations. The examples are guiding and show how and when the employee can get a tax-free travel allowance. The assessment of when the employee is travelling takes place according to an individual assessment.

Example 1: Change in working hours

Salary earner Michael lives in Stubbekøbing and is temporarily working on a construction project in Kalundborg. The distance by car is approx. 128 km and the travel time is 1 hour and 48 minutes. Michael works five days a week from 7.00 am to 3.00 pm. Michael is not travelling, and this is also the case if he decides to spend the night by the temporary workplace.

The deadline for handing over the construction work which Michael is working on expires shortly, and the construction work is delayed. A's employer has therefore ordered the employees to work overtime in order to complete the construction work on time.

As a consequence, Michael starts working from 6.00 am to 6.00 pm on Monday to Thursday and from 6.00 am to 2.00 pm on Fridays. He leaves Stubbekøbing on Monday morning and returns on Friday after the end of the working day. From Monday to Friday, Michael spends the night in his caravan close to the temporary workplace.

The change in Michael's working conditions (working hours) does not mean that Michael is travelling from the time he leaves his home on Monday morning until he returns on Friday afternoon. The reason for this is that he is required to work 12 hours per day from Monday to Thursday and to come to work at 6.00 am on Friday morning for a short period of time only and that the work cannot be deemed to be physically strenuous.

Michael's working conditions mean that it is not deemed impossible for him to return to Stubbekøbing for the night.

Example 2: On-call allowance

Peter lives in Odense. On Tuesday, Peter's employer dispatches Peter to Vejle where he is to install a machine at an enterprise which is the employer's customer. Peter is the only employee the employer has who knows this machine.

Peter begins his working day at 8.00 am by picking up the machine at the employer's premises in Odense. At 8.30 am, he drives his employer's car to the enterprise in Vejle where he spends the rest of the working day installing the machine and instructing the enterprise staff in how to use it.

The machine is new and is to operate round the clock. Peter's employer has therefore asked Peter to be on call and spend the evening and night in Vejle so that he can respond quickly in the event of problems.

Peter is called in to inspect the machine Wednesday night at 1.00 am. At 7.00 am on Wednesday, Peter is needed to adjust the machine. This work takes some time, and Peter therefore does not return to his employer's premises in Odense until 11.00 am on Wednesday when he returns the employer's car and continues working until the end of the normal working day at 4.00 pm.

The distance from Peter's place of residence in Odense to the enterprise in Vejle is approx. 75 km. The trip takes about 50 minutes by car. Peter is travelling from the time he leaves his permanent workplace on Tuesday until he returns to his permanent workplace on Wednesday. The reason for this is that his working conditions - the on-call duty - made it impossible for him to go home for the night.

Peter's employer has paid for the overnight stay at a hotel in Vejle (free accommodation). Peter therefore cannot get a tax-free accommodation allowance. However, as Peter has paid for his own food during his stay in Vejle, his employer can cover his food expenses tax free, either via a food allowance at the standard rate or as per account rendered.

Example 3: Allowance in connection with variable working hours

Thomas lives in Nykøbing Falster and is temporarily working on a roadworks project near Roskilde each day from 7.00 am to 3.00 pm. The distance from Nykøbing Falster to Roskilde is approx 111 km, and the trip takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes by car.

In the course of the week, Thomas gets new working hours. The roadworks must now be carried out at night when there is less traffic. On Wednesday, Thomas therefore first works from 7.00 am to 3.00 pm, and then he comes back to work again at 11.00 pm in order to work until 7.00 am on Thursday morning.

Thomas' working hours in the week in question are therefore as follows:

Monday from 7.00 am to 3.00 pm

Tuesday from 7.00 am to 3.00 pm

Wednesday from 7.00 am to 3.00 pm (leaving Nykøbing F. at 5.45 am)

Thursday from 11.00 pm to Friday 7.00 am, at which time Thomas's weekend starts.

It is possible for Thomas to go home for the night after the end of the working day on the following days: Monday at 3.00 pm, Tuesday at 3.00 pm, Thursday at 7.00 am and Friday at 7.00 am. Thomas is therefore not travelling on these days.

On Wednesday, it is not possible for Thomas to go home for the night and return to Roskilde before the next working period starts at 11.00 pm. Thomas therefore has to stay in Roskilde to rest between 3.00 pm and 11.00 pm, and his employer can pay a tax-free travel allowance for Thomas' food and accommodation expenses in this context.

This means that Thomas is travelling from the time he leaves home on Wednesday morning at 5.45 am and until he returns to his home on Thursday morning at 8.15 am.

Example 4: Free food and accommodation

Sophie lives in Vordingborg where she is employed in an enterprise which has just implemented a major reorganisation. Sophie has therefore been transferred to a new department where the employees have not previously worked together.

The employer therefore sends Sophie and her new colleagues off to attend a staff seminar in Sorø from Monday to Wednesday. The seminar is scheduled to last from 9.00 am to 6.00 pm on Monday and Tuesday and from 9.00 am to 4.00 pm on Wednesday. The purpose of the seminar is plan the new department's work projects for the coming year as well as to build team spirit in the new department.

The team-building activities take place on Monday and Tuesday evening and are based on art as a form of expression. A lecture is given by an artist, and Sophie and her colleagues are also required to work together as a team in artistic workshops.

The distance from Vordingborg to Sorø is approx. 60 km, and the trip takes close to an hour by car.

On Monday and Tuesday, it is not possible for Sophie to go home for the night due to the team-building activities in the evenings. This means that Sophie is travelling from the time she leaves home on Monday morning at 8.00 am and until she returns to her home on Wednesday at 5.00 pm.

Sophie gets free food and accommodation, and therefore cannot get a tax-free travel allowance. However, she can get 25% of the food allowance rate to cover petty acquisitions. If Sophie had not been provided with free food, she would have got a tax-free food allowance.

Example 5: Allowance/deduction in connection with rules on rest periods

Martin is a self-employed haulage contractor and lives in Skanderborg. He has several employees, but he also works as a driver himself. Martin's haulage contracting business is located in Aarhus.

Martin is to transport potted plants to a medium-sized town in central Sweden. Martin arrives at the business premises in Aarhus at 7.00 am on Monday morning, where he is to pick up the truck and the necessary paperwork. Martin leaves Aarhus at 8.00 am, and he is now in a temporary workplace (the truck), as a workplace moving in line with the performance of the work is always deemed to be a temporary workplace. Martin's travelling starts on Monday at 8.00 am when he leaves his permanent workplace in Aarhus in the truck.

Martin first needs to pick up the potted plants at a nursery in Kolding. From there, he drives across Funen to Copenhagen and via the Øresund Bridge to Sweden. Along the way to the destination, Martin takes a break according to the applicable rules on driving times and rest periods. He reaches his destination on Monday evening. He stops at a service area, eats at a cafeteria and spends the night in the truck. First thing Tuesday morning, he unloads the potted plants at the recipient's premises. Then he starts the return trip to Denmark.

On the way home, he takes the ferry from Helsingborg to Elsinore as he needs to pick up a shipment in Hillerød. Martin is to transport these goods to Fåborg and unload them there. On his trip from Sweden, he takes the breaks he is required to take according to the rules on driving times and rest periods.

From Fåborg, he continues towards Aarhus. When he reaches Vejle at around 6 pm, his driving time is almost at an end. According to the rules on driving times and rest periods, Martin is now not allowed to drive any further that day, and he therefore stops to rest at the transport centre in Vejle.

Martin is approx. 40 km away from his home in Skanderborg. Due to the distance, it is therefore possible for Martin to get home, even though he has used up all his driving time and he is therefore no longer allowed to drive the truck.

Because it is possible for Martin to get home for the night, his travelling therefore ends on Tuesday when he stops to rest (in Vejle). Martin is not entitled to a travel allowance/deduction after this time. The fact that Martin's travelling has ended does not necessarily mean, however, that he is required to go home for the night. The tax rules do not stipulate that Martin is not allowed to stay with the truck, only that he is no longer entitled to a travel allowance/deduction.

Refund of VAT paid abroad

VAT refund rules

Applying for a refund of VAT paid aborad

Refund of Danish VAT to foreign businesses domiciled outside EU