Excess allowance constitutes wages

It is permissible for an employer to present its employees with a transport allowance of up to 19 euro cents per kilometre. If the employer pays more than this, the excess will be charged with wage tax.

Case:
An employee whose employer paid transport allowance in the amount of 38 euro cents per kilometre disagreed that part of the allowance should be taxed. The employment contract stipulated that the employee was under the obligation to purchase a presentable car, for which purpose the employer had given him a loan. The employee quoted the Tax and Customs Administration’s withholding tax manual and referred to the allowance in the amount of 38 euro cents for every kilometre driven in connection with the business to argue that the scheme governing the private use of a company car applied as the employer offered full compensation of the costs associated with the car inclusive of depreciation. As it turned out not to be possible to establish that the employer was indeed offering full compensation of the costs associated with the car, the tax authorities concluded that rather than the car being made available to the employee, the latter was being presented with an excessive allowance in connection with said vehicle.

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