When an employee travels for work reasons away from their usual workplace, the amounts the company pays to cover subsistence and lodging costs get special tax treatment, different from the rest of the salary, within certain limits.
Why these amounts can be exempt
The logic behind this exemption is that per diems don't pay for your work — they compensate for an expense you wouldn't have had if you hadn't traveled on the company's orders. That's why, up to certain daily limits, these amounts aren't treated as additional taxable pay, but simply as reimbursement of expenses.
The daily limits depending on the type of trip
The exempt amounts vary depending on whether the subsistence expenses involve an overnight stay away from your usual home, and whether the trip is within Spain or abroad, with different amounts set by regulation for each case. Above that daily limit, the excess is taxed as additional pay subject to income tax.
Requirements for the exemption to be valid
- The trip must take place in a municipality other than both your usual workplace and your home.
- The day and place of travel, as well as its purpose or reason, must be documented with appropriate evidence.
- The amounts must not exceed the maximum exempt amounts set for each type of expense.
Lodging expenses get different treatment
Unlike subsistence expenses (with specific daily limits), lodging expenses are exempt in full, with no specific cap, as long as they're backed by an invoice and meet the same general requirements of travel outside the usual municipality.
What happens if the company pays more than the exempt amount
If the company pays an amount above the exempt limits, the excess over those limits is treated as additional pay for the employee, subject to ordinary taxation and included on the payslip as another salary item, with the corresponding income tax withholding.
Difference from mileage for using your own vehicle
Besides subsistence and lodging per diems, there's a specific exempt amount per kilometer traveled when the employee uses their own vehicle for work travel, with its own per-kilometer amount and documentation requirements different from those for subsistence per diems.
Check your payslip if you travel frequently for work
If you regularly travel for work, it's worth checking that the per diems you receive fit within these exempt limits and that the tax treatment on your payslip is correct. Our net salary calculator serves as a general reference for your estimated net pay.