Travel and subsistence exemptions for certain employments

Members of non-commercial bodies

You may choose to repay travel and subsistence expenses to certain members of your non-commercial body. If these expenses arise from attending the meetings of such bodies, the payments are tax free. 

A ‘member’ is a person holding an office within that body. They must also have no other duties in relation to that body.

The exemption only applies where the members generally carry out their work at such meetings.

A 'non-commercial body' is a body:

• organised solely for purposes other than profit and operates not for profit
• whose income is used by the body to assist it in achieving its purposes
• that does not provide any of its income for the personal benefit of any officer, employee, member or connected person. Wages, salaries, fees or honorariums for services rendered are not counted as personal benefit.

A non-commercial body can be in either the public or private sector.

To qualify for the exemption, a member’s annual pay (excluding travel and subsistence) must not exceed a certain amount. This amount is:

• €24,000 in the case of the chairperson
• €14,000 in the case of other members.

The exemption covers expenses up to the Civil Service rates.

A member may work for your body for less than 12 months. In this case, the amount of pay should be revised to arrive at an annualised, or 12-month, figure. We use the revised figure to determine if the member is eligible for the exemption.

Next: Non-executive directors (NEDs)