Travel costs

Travel costs (Fahrtkosten) are expenses for work-related journeys, for example with your own vehicle, by train, bus or plane, by taxi or hire car. The reimbursement is also known as travel allowance or travel cost reimbursement. Travel costs are a central part of the travel expense report and can be reimbursed tax-free by the employer or deducted for tax purposes.

Work-related journeys

Typical are business trips, journeys to customers or to external places of work and journeys at changing places of work. What matters is that the journey does not lead to the first place of work, because the distance allowance applies to that. Only journeys outside the first place of work are travel expenses.

Travel costs per km and as per receipt

• Own car: a flat €0.30 per kilometre driven (mileage allowance), without individual proof of costs.
• Motorcycle, scooter, moped: a flat €0.20 per kilometre.
• Bicycle and e-bike: no mileage allowance, only the actual costs.
• Train, bus, flight, taxi, hire car: the actual costs as per ticket or invoice.
• Company car: the employee incurs no own travel costs, so there is no mileage allowance.

Reimbursement or tax deduction

The employer can reimburse travel costs tax-free. If it reimburses nothing, employees claim them as income-related expenses and the self-employed as business expenses. The journey must always be work-related and documented. If the employer pays more than €0.30 per kilometre, the excess is taxable wages.

Documenting travel costs

For recognition, you need the date, destination, purpose, kilometres driven and the means of transport. In Spesenfuchs, you record journeys digitally, the mileage rate is applied automatically, and an individual rate per employee is also possible. The data goes directly to accounting or via DATEV export to the tax advisor.

Difference to the distance allowance

Journeys between home and the first place of work fall under the distance allowance and do not belong in the travel expense report. The distance allowance applies regardless of the means of transport, including journeys by bicycle. You will find the comparison in the article Difference between distance allowance and mileage allowance.

Legal basis and sources: § 9 EStG, § 5 BRKG: mileage allowance (€0.30 and €0.20 per km), LStH 2026, Annex 25 III: travel expenses of employees