What are the items included in the mileage allowance?

The professional displacements of the workers who use their vehicles generate a series of expenses that the company compensates with the payment of mileage allowances. But it is important to know which costs can be included in this section. Captio resolves some doubts in this regard in a whitepaper.

The mileage is intended to cover the wear and tear and consumption that the vehicle generates during a professional trip. The first expense to take into account is surely the most obvious one: the fuel, which represents the most important part of the expense generated.

The wear and tear of the car is another expense to take into account. This encompasses several aspects: the erosion of the tires and mechanical parts, the loss of oil properties, etc. That is, any element of the car that is consumed or used.

Another important expense is the insurance. The mileage has to cover the proportional part of the insurance price, especially taking into account the legal implications in case of an accident. You also have to take into account the proportional part of the taxes related to the vehicle, such as registration or road tax.

NOT INCLUDED

There are other expenses that are not included in the price of the mileage. For example, the fines that the driver receives, whether traffic or parking fines. Obviously, it is the employee who is responsible for these fines, and who has to pay them. Moreover, in case of receiving them, the company is obliged to identify the driver.

Other expenses such as tolls are also not included in the mileage. This does not mean that the company does not have to compensate them. It is simply that it is another type of concept that the employee will have to include in his or her expense report, according to the company's policies.

The same applies to the parking, despite not being part of the mileage, the company can compensate it after submitting an expense report.

Finally, it should be noted that the price of mileage is not regulated in Spain, so it will depend on the criteria of the company and its travel policy. What is regulated is the quotation and withholding of these payments. There is a maximum, which in 2016 was set at 0.19&euro per kilometer, exempt from taxation. If the company pays a price per kilometer higher than this, it quotes only for the excess.