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V0358-22 24 February 2022 · SG de Impuestos sobre la Renta de las Personas Físicas Criterion in force
IRPF · dietas de manutención

The nine-month limit on subsistence allowances does not apply if the worker does not stay overnight at the destination

A company has requested clarification on whether subsistence allowances for employees working outside their usual municipality are limited to nine months per year if they do not stay overnight. The Directorate-General for Taxes (DGT) has ruled that the nine-month time limit only applies when there is continuous presence, which is not the case if no overnight stay occurs.

The question raised

Whether workers may receive the average meal allowance exempt from taxation during 11 months of the year, or whether it is limited to a maximum of 9 months within the calendar year.

The DGT's ruling

Meal allowances are exempt from Personal Income Tax (IRPF) if travel is undertaken to a municipality other than the usual place of work and residence, provided quantitative limits are met. The temporal limit of not remaining for more than nine months only applies when there is a stay for a continuous period, a circumstance that does not occur in cases where the worker does not stay overnight at the destination. Therefore, in daily travel without an overnight stay, said nine-month limit does not apply.

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