This section explains what to do when you receive an advance or are reimbursed for any of the employee business expenses discussed in this publication.
If you received an advance, allowance, or reimbursement for your expenses, how you report this amount and your expenses depends on whether the reimbursement was paid to you under an accountable plan or a nonaccountable plan.
This section explains the two types of plans, how per diem and car allowances simplify proving the amount of your expenses, and the tax treatment of your reimbursements and expenses. It also covers rules for independent contractors.
No reimbursement. You are not reimbursed or given an allowance for your expenses if you are paid a salary or commission with the understanding that you will pay your own expenses. In this situation, you have no reimbursement or allowance arrangement, and you do not have to read this section on reimbursements. Instead, see Completing Forms 2106 and 2106-EZ for information on completing your tax return.
Reimbursement, allowance, or advance. A reimbursement or other expense allowance arrangement is a system or plan that an employer uses to pay, substantiate, and recover the expenses, advances, reimbursements, and amounts charged to the employer for employee business expenses. Arrangements include per diem and car allowances.
A per diem allowance is a fixed amount of daily reimbursement your employer gives you for your lodging, meals, and incidental expenses when you are away from home on business. (The term "incidental expenses" is defined in chapter 1 under Standard Meal Allowance.) A car allowance is an amount your employer gives you for the business use of your car.
Your employer should tell you what method of reimbursement is used and what records you must provide.
Employers. If you are an employer and you reimburse employee business expenses, how you treat this reimbursement on your employee's Form W-2 depends in part on whether you have an accountable plan. Reimbursements treated as paid under an accountable plan are not reported as pay. Reimbursements treated as paid under nonaccountable plans are reported as pay. See Publication 15, Circular E, Employer's Tax Guide, for information on employee pay.
Information courtesy of the Internal Revenue Service.
