Function documentationReimbursement for Meals and Deduction Rules

 

This function enables you to calculate the reimbursement for meals in accordance with the legal requirements. During the calculation, the system takes into account the deduction rules and makes deductions from the meal per diem accordingly.

Prerequisites

You have completed the following activities:

  • You have made all the settings that relate to meal-per-diem calculation as described in Customizing for Travel Expenses under Start of the navigation path Trip Reimbursement Amounts Next navigation step Reimbursement Amounts for Meals End of the navigation path.

  • You have entered the deduction percentages as described in Customizing for Travel Expenses under Start of the navigation path Trip Reimbursement Amounts Next navigation step Deductions Next navigation step Define Deductions End of the navigation path.

Features

One-Day Trips with Multiple Destinations

When employees' domestic or foreign business trips take one day, the system uses the meal per diem defined for 24 hours for the meal reimbursement amount calculation. This also applies when the employees travel to more than one destination on a one-day domestic trip. When employees travel to more than one destination country on a one-day foreign trip, the system considers only the country where the employees spend the longest time period during the day when calculating the meal reimbursement.

Trips Shorter Than One Day

The system also uses the meal per diem defined for 24 hours for the meal reimbursement amount calculation when the trip is shorter than a whole day. Even if it is a domestic or a foreign trip with more than one destination, the meal costs do not exceed the statutory meal rate you can provide to the employees for one day as defined by law.

Combination of Domestic and Foreign Trips

When the foreign trip has one or more domestic parts, the system can calculate the meal reimbursement amount for the domestic part of a foreign trip using two different calculation methods as follows:

  • The system sums the time of the domestic part and calculates the sum of the meal reimbursement amount for the domestic part.

    To do so, enter the PLFTD constant in Customizing for Travel Expenses under Start of the navigation path Master Data Next navigation step Check Travel Expense Constants End of the navigation path, and in the Number field, enter value 0 (zero) or leave the field empty.

    Example Example

    Your trip starts at 03:00 am and you cross the border at 11:00 am. You travel back and you return to your country crossing the border at 19:00 pm. Your trip ends at 21:00 pm. The domestic part of your trip is: 8 hours (from 03:00 to 11:00) and 2 hours (from 19:00 to 21:00). The system calculates the sum of the meal reimbursement amount for the (8+2=)10 hours.

    End of the example.

  • The system separately calculates the meal reimbursement amount of the domestic parts of the trip.

    To do so, enter the PLFTD constant in Customizing for Travel Expenses under Start of the navigation path Master Data Next navigation step Check Travel Expense Constants End of the navigation path, and in the Number field, enter value 1.

    Example Example

    Your trip starts at 03:00 am and you cross the border at 11:00 am. You travel back and you return to your country crossing the border at 19:00 pm. Your trip ends at 21:00 pm. The domestic part of your trip is: 8 hours (from 03:00 to 11:00) and 2 hours (from 19:00 to 21:00). The system calculates the meal reimbursement amount for the 8 hours and separately for the 2 hours.

    End of the example.
Deductions from Meal Per Diems

In addition to the calculation rules described above, the following country-specific deduction rules apply:

  • When employees receive meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) free of charge on a domestic trip, the deduction percentage depends on the trip type, trip duration, and the number of free meals:

    Trip Type

    Duration

    Number of Free Meals and Deduction Percentage

    1 Free Meal

    2 Free Meals

    3 Free Meals

    One-Day Trip

    00:01 — 8:00

    Not relevant

    If the trip takes less than 8 hours, the employee does not receive meal per diem for the given day.

    08:01 — 12:00

    0 %

    100 %

    100 %

    12:01 — 24:00

    0 %

    0 %

    100 %

    Several-Day Trip

    00:01 — 8:00

    0 %

    100 %

    100 %

    08:01 — 24:00

    0 %

    0 %

    100 %

  • When employees receive meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) free of charge on a foreign trip, the law defines the following deduction percentages:

    Type of Free Meal

    Percentage of Deduction

    Breakfast

    15% of meal per diem defined for a 12-24-hour time interval

    Lunch

    30% of meal per diem defined for a 12-24-hour time interval

    Dinner

    30% of meal per diem defined for a 12-24-hour time interval

  • When employees spend a certain amount of time in their resident city during a domestic or foreign trip, employees are not entitled to meal per diem for the given day of the trip. The deduction from the meal per diem is 100% on the given day, irrespective of the time spent in their resident city.

  • When employees visit more than one country on a business trip, they must enter the country and the meals they received free of charge in the Travel Expense Manager program.

    To enable the system to calculate the meal per diem, you must enter default deduction values for a time period for each meal (constants B_DED, L_DED, and D_DED) in Customizing for Travel Expenses under Start of the navigation path Master Data Next navigation step Check Travel Expense Constants End of the navigation path.

  • If the deduction amount exceeds the meal per diem, the reimbursement amount for meals is zero.