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 Meals & Incidental Expenses Method (M&IE)

Use

The meals and incidental expenses (only M&IE) method is a statutory accounting method in the USA, according to which travelers receive reimbursement for business expenses for meals and incidental expenses (as described in US tax laws) by per diems and not on the basis of receipts. Lodgings are not considered in the reimbursement amounts and are reimbursed on the basis of receipts (actual costs). Incidental expenses include costs for laundry, dry-cleaning, tips, and other expenses directly related to a trip. The US government specifies tax-free per diems for inside continental United States (CONUS) and for outside the continental United States (OCONUS). These rates vary according to locality. Travelers are reimbursed according to the rates valid for the locality at which they are present at 12:00 midnight local time. If the trip ends before midnight, the locality where the traveler is during the last minute of the trip applies. This is called the midnight rule .

Features

Trip provision variant 81 is the basis for the M&IE method. You can update the per diem rates with the IMG activity Import US Per Diems/Flat Rates from Internet . You can set the per diems/flat rates that you want to reimburse higher than the tax-exempt per diems. If the amounts are above the per diem rates set by law, the difference is taxed as wages or salary to the employee in payroll accounting.