From the 1st of January, 2024, the introduction of Revenue's Enhanced Reporting Requirements (ERR) will impact various types of payments, including tax-free payments made to site-based employees. Site-based employees in Ireland are those who do not have a fixed base and, in the course of their employment, perform their work duties at different locations, for periods generally longer than a day. These duties generally involve substantive tasks that are integral to their job roles. Site-based employees are most common in the construction industry.  

Travel and subsistence may be paid tax free to a site-based employee, up to a certain amount, if they meet Revenue’s conditions. Types of tax-free expenses which apply in particular to site-based employees and will need to be reported under ERR from January 2024, include: 

• Country money 
• Eating on site 

Country Money

In certain sectors, employees are often required to travel to work at different sites. Travel and subsistence expenses may be paid tax free to a site-based employee. These expenses, often referred to as ‘Country Money’ can be paid tax free up to a certain rate, if they meet the conditions outlined by Revenue. To be eligible for country money, an employee must: 

• Be working at a site that is 32km (20 miles) or more from the employer’s base  
• Be working 32km or more from the General Post Office (GPO), if the employee is Dublin based 
• Not be provided with transport to and from the site by the employer 
• Not be provided with board and lodgings by the employer 
• Not have been recruited to work at one site only, also known as ‘jobbed on site’   

Country Money rates 

• €181.68 per week for more than four days 
• €36.34 per day for four days or less 

Anything above these rates will be subject to tax.  

Reporting to Revenue 

When you make a tax-free payment to an employee which falls under the category of Country Money, you will need to report the amount of each payment and the payment date. This should be reported on or before the payment date. Records relating to the payment of country money should be held by the employer for six years. 

Eating on site 

The eating on site allowance is paid to site-based employees in some sectors of the economy, including construction, provided that the following conditions are adhered to: 

• No facilities are provided by the Employer for eating lunch, or making tea, coffee, etc 
• The employee is in receipt of no other form of tax-free subsistence payment 
• The employee works on site for a minimum of 1.5 hours before and after normal lunch breaks 

Eating on site rate 

The eating on site allowance is no more than €5 per day. Anything above €5 will be subject to tax. 

Reporting to Revenue 

When you make a tax-free payment to an employee which falls under the category of eating on site, you will need to report the amount of each payment and the payment date. This should be reported on or before the payment date. 

Preparing for ERR 

If you have employees who you make tax-free payments to and they fall under any of Revenue's ERR categories, it’s important that you are aware of your obligations come January 2024.  

To help you get up to speed, here at Bright, we have three types of resources on ERR for you to choose from. First, we are hosting regular ERR webinars which you can register for through our website. Next, we have a free guide which can be downloaded to learn all you need to know about ERR. And finally, we have a new ERR Hub on our website. Bright are here to keep employers and payroll processors informed on ERR.