Per Diem Payments
Payroll Processes
Background
These relate to the processing of per diem payments through the University’s payroll system. Planning and
Management Committee has authorised (PMC 34/04) that the only means for payment of travel expenses for staff
are as follows:
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provision of a corporate card, with subsequent acquittal being mandatory i.e. adherence to the current policy
and annual certification requirements;
direct reimbursement of actual expenses; or
payment of a per diem allowance through the payroll system with the monies taxed or untaxed in accordance
with the ATO reasonable allowance amounts.
Faculties/Schools/Areas and employees are encouraged to continue to utilise the corporate credit facilities in
accordance with the EBA provisions for Travelling Allowances, the corporate card policy and existing arrangements
for reimbursement of actual expenses. No allowance is to be paid through a corporate credit card.
Where a per diem or allowance is paid to cover accommodation, meals or incidentals, any expenditure in excess of
the allowance must be paid for out of pocket and claimed as a reimbursement through Accounts Payable in Financial
Services. Where an allowance is paid, no additional payment of expenses covered by the allowance may be made
through a corporate credit card.
Any reimbursement claim under the previous paragraph must be added to the allowance paid to determine whether
the adjusted allowance meets the ATO reasonable allowance guidelines.
Incidentals will be expenses incurred once a trip has started (i.e. departure from home or campus) including local
taxi/bus/train fares, baggage handling, dry cleaning and similar out of pocket expenses. Visa costs, airport taxes and
similar would not be considered incidental expenses and can therefore be paid by corporate credit card. Bus and
train fares between major travel destinations would also not be considered incidental expenditure.
NOTE: The ATO reasonable allowance exemptions do not apply to academic study leave.
Processes
1.
An employee advises the administration office of their Faculty/School/Area that they want to make travel
arrangements (international or domestic – within Australia). Employee and Faculty/School/Area administrator
prepare the appropriate Travel Approval forms and paperwork, which requires Divisional approval. If the
employee is requesting an “up front” per diem payment to be made then the administrator will also complete
the Human Resources “Application for Per Diem Payment” form.
2.
Rates
Overseas:
The Division/Faculty/School/Area can determine the per diem rates payable according to the to the business
requirements and activities the employee will be undertaking at the particular destination overseas. The ATO
reasonable allowance limits are only a guide for overseas travel and the University is not obliged to pay these
amounts.
Domestic:
For travel within Australia (domestic) the EBA’s prescribe that travelling allowances will be in accordance with
the WA Government rates. Information on this is contained in Schedule I of the Public Sector Award 1992,
available at:
http://www.wairc.wa.gov.au/awards/PUB007/p41/PUB007.pdf Refer to Column ‘A’ –Daily Rates
http://hr.curtin.edu.au/local/docs/GS_AGREEMENT_MASTER_2010.pdf Refer to Schedule 2 – Domestic Rates
EBA
3.
The Faculty/School/Area administrator is responsible for determining the specific per diem for the travel
request and the tax (PAYG) implications, taking into account the travel destination, employee’s salary level and
the ATO reasonable allowance limits as found at the following web addresses:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
Allowances paid to employees
http://www.ato.gov.au/content/70617.htm
Income Tax: substantiation expectation for reasonable travel and overtime meal allowance
expenses ATO: Taxation Ruling 2004/06http://law.ato.gov.au/atolaw/view.htm?docid=TXR/TR20046/nat/ato/00001
Income Tax: What are the reasonable travel and meal allowance expense amounts (financial year
based)
2012 / 2013
2011 / 2012
2010 / 2011
2009 / 2010
2008 / 2009
2007 / 2008
ATO: Taxation Determination TD 2012/17
ATO: Taxation Determination TD 2011/17
ATO: Taxation Determination TD 2010/19
ATO: Taxation Determination TD 2009/15
ATO: Taxation Determination TD 2008/18
ATO: Taxation Determination TD 2007/21
2006 / 2007
2005 / 2006
2004 / 2005
ATO: Taxation Determination TD 2006/43
ATO: Taxation Determination TD 2005/32
ATO: Taxation Determination TD 2004/19
http://law.ato.gov.au/pdf/pbr/td2012-017.pdf
http://law.ato.gov.au/pdf/pbr/td2011-017.pdf
http://law.ato.gov.au/pdf/pbr/td2010-019.pdf
http://law.ato.gov.au/pdf/pbr/td2009-015.pdf
http://law.ato.gov.au/pdf/pbr/td2008-018.pdf
http://law.ato.gov.au/atolaw/view.htm?docid=TXD/TD2
00721/NAT/ATO/00001
http://law.ato.gov.au/pdf/pbr/td2006-043.pdf
http://law.ato.gov.au/pdf/pbr/td2005-032.pdf
http://law.ato.gov.au/pdf/pbr/td2004-019.pdf
4. Travel documents, once they are approved by the Divisional Officer are to be sent back to the
Faculty/School/Area where they are retained for five years for taxation purposes.
5. The Per Diem payment request form is completed by the Faculty/School/Area administrator and
forwarded to Human Resources for action. The employee will receive this payment in the next available
pay period – only in strict emergencies will special ‘out of cycle’ payments be made at the discretion of
the Manager, Remuneration and Appointment Services.
6. The employee is advised to check their payslip to confirm the per diem payment has been processed.
NB. Per Diems that are within the ATO reasonable limit for the destination will not be subject to PAYG and will
not appear on Payment Summaries. Per Diems that are above the ATO reasonable limit for the destination
could be subject to PAYG and accordingly will appear on Payment Summaries.
7. Human Resources will:
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Process the Per Diem payment as per instructions/information provided by the Faculty/School/Area;
Ensure that pay codes within Alesco have the appropriate PAYG tax and payroll tax oncost definitions as per
the ATO guidelines and instructions from the State Revenue Office (Department of Treasury and Finance)
http://www.dtf.wa.gov.au/cms/osr_index.asp;
Maintain a link from the Human Resources web site to the ATO web site for the reasonable travel allowance
rates and information.
Updated
20 August 2012