Paying for going to work and traveling home: foreign employees, telecommuting from abroad – with interesting examples

Accounting for remote workers costs has highlighted the fact that it is not always clear when and to what extent an employer is obligated to pay travel expenses to commute to work. Based on a government decision. In our article, we also address the rules applicable to foreign workers employed in the Hungarian labor force.

Expenses spent on commuting to work – regardless of whether it is paid in cash or for a ticket or permit – are considered income to be granted in connection with the employment relationship, unless the entitlement is provided in accordance with Article 39/2010 regarding commuting to work. In the event that you go to work according to a government decision, then there is no need to take it into account when calculating income.

The scope of the government decree is basically a mountain, as is Law XXXIII of 1992 on the legal status of public servants. Covers employers and employees covered by the law [1. § (1) bekezdés].

Considered going to work

– daily trips to work and home from outside the administrative boundaries between the place of residence or place of residence and place of work for the purpose of travel (long distances), or for the purpose of transit by local public transport, and

– Within the administrative boundaries, between the place of residence or place of residence and the place of work, daily commuting to work and travel home for the purpose of work, if the employee cannot reach the place of work – due to its geographical location – either by local or intercity public transport, or You can get to it by local public transport, the transport route of which was specially created or modified to ensure the arrival of the employer on the outskirts of the settlement.

It follows from the concept of going to work that the determination of place of residence and residence plays a prominent role in assessing the obligation to pay and determining the tax liability. This is also why the government decree stipulates that the employee must declare his place of residence and place of residence at the same time that he uses travel compensation for commuting to work, as well as whether the daily commute to work takes place from his place of residence. place of residence or place of residence [kormányrendelet 7. §].

The amount of costs assumed by the employer depends on the distance between the settlements included in the declaration and the place of work, especially when hiring a foreign worker.

Residence is the address of the apartment in which the employee lives or in which he resides as part of his lifestyle. This place may not match the place of residence registered on the address card. Place of residence is the address of the apartment in which the employee resides – without intending to permanently leave his place of residence – temporarily for work purposes. The legislation does not specify how long a temporary residence can last, so it can be several years.

Read also in our article, in which we show by examples why it is so important to indicate the actual place of residence and in what cases and to what extent employers are obliged to reimburse the costs of going to work and back home!