Employers can pay their employees a tax-free allowance of EUR 0.19 per kilometer for their commuting and other business-related mileage. If employees travel by public transport (“OV”), their employers can reimburse them, free of tax, for the actual costs of that transport. This is conditioned on the employees providing the employers with receipts for their OV travel. Employers must keep these receipts in their accounting records.
OV chip card transaction overview equated with receipt for travel
More and more localities are having travelers use OV chip cards to pay their fares. Those travelers no longer receive receipts for their travel, which has made it more difficult for employers to fulfill their accounting obligations. What transport companies can do, however, is prepare overviews evidencing the travelers’ journeys. In order to fill a gap in the legislation in this regard, the Deputy Minister of Finance has issued a decree equating OV chip card transaction overviews, which are prepared by or at the behest of the transport company, with other receipts for travel. No new legislation on this point is expected in the near future.
Transaction overview dependent on the type of OV chip card
There are three versions of the OV chip card:
- the personalized OV chip card (issued in the traveler’s name);
- the anonymous OV chip card; and
- the disposable OV chip card.
People who carry personalized or anonymous OV chip cards can, at any time, print an overview of the ten most recent transactions registered on the OV chip card. These printouts can be made on the machines where OV chip cards can be purchased and refilled, as well as at the sales and information points operated by the relevant OV companies. Note: A transaction is a type of action performed with the OV chip card, such as refilling your card or checking in and out. A single trip always comprises a number of transactions. The transactions appear on the transaction overview after a maximum of seven days.
By accessing an online account, people who carry personalized OV chip cards can also print out overviews of transactions up to 18 months old. No transaction overviews can be generated with disposable OV chip cards. Employers can only reimburse the actual travel costs free of tax if employees use the type of OV chip card that allows transaction overviews to be printed out.