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Claiming Work Related Travel Expenses – For Overnight & Overseas Travel

Article By Adam Hurwood | | Accounting & Tax
We know that the ATO allows us to claim the costs of local work-related travel, for events such as conferences or visiting clients. Sometimes, you may need to travel some distance and stay away from home overnight. We will look at the rules for claiming travel expenses for this extended work-related travel.

Overnight Travel

If you stay away from home for one or more nights on business travel, you will generally need to keep written evidence of all expenses for the time you are away, including amounts paid for transport, accommodation, and incidentals. We recommend keeping a folder for receipts, or a spreadsheet record of bank transactions that relate to the travel. This will make it easier to calculate your travel expense claim when you prepare your tax return.

Extended Travel – Domestic or Overseas

Usually, all the expenses relating to the travel are deductible, if the primary purpose of the travel is for business. When the travel includes some private portion, for example a two day conference in Sydney where the taxpayer actually stays for a week for sightseeing, the expenses will need to be apportioned, and only the work-related portion is claimed as a deduction.

The only time you do not need to keep written evidence of all your travel expenses is if you are an employee who receives a travel allowance. If your total expense claim is less than the ‘Reasonable Allowance Amount’ published by the ATO, you will not need to keep written records of your expenses. This could be different to the amount of travel allowance you actually receive. This amount changes year to year, and depends on the location of your travel. The most up to date information can be found on the ATO’s website

If you receive a travel allowance and your expense claim exceeds the Reasonable Allowance Amount’, then you will need to keep written records of all expenses, not just those in excess of the Reasonable Allowance Amount. If you have any queries about your requirements in relation to the Reasonable Allowance Amount, please get in touch with one of our Accounting Team members, who will be happy to assist.

Travel Diary Requirements

There is one other requirement in relation to record keeping for claiming travel expenses, and it relates to the use of a travel diary. A travel diary must record the dates, places, times and duration of your activities and travel. The purpose of a travel diary is to allow accurate calculation of the employment-related and private elements of your trip. If the travel was partly private, you can claim only the work-related part. The following is a summary of various scenarios, advising when a travel diary is required to be kept.

If you did not receive a travel allowance:

If you did receive a travel allowance:
If you received a travel allowance and your claim does not exceed the reasonable allowance amount:

If you received a travel allowance and your claim exceeds the reasonable allowance amount:

If a travel diary is not required, but your trip consists of both work-related and private travel, it may still be prudent to keep one to substantiate your calculation of the work-related and private travel expenses. If you have any queries about the required format of a travel diary, please get in touch with one of our Accounting Team members, who will be happy to assist.