We kindly inform that on 28th June 2023, with resolution No. 504 the Government of the Republic of Lithuania changed resolution No. 526 “On the Payment of Daily Allowance and Other Business Trip Expenses” and approved new daily allowance rates for business trips.
According to the Government resolution from 1st August 2023, the daily allowance rate in Lithuania will increase by 13 EUR and the amount will reach 28 EUR per day (currently –15 EUR per day) and the list of maximum daily allowances will change. If countries are not listed on the list of maximum daily allowances, the daily allowance rate will be 33 EUR per day.
According to the resolution of the Lithuanian Government, it is agreed that:
- the daily allowance rates are changed (for several countries), which are calculated according to the maximum amounts of daily allowances approved in the resolution of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania or lower amounts of daily allowances (the latter must be differentiated according to objective criteria and determined in a collective or, if there is none, in a local or internal administration legal act, in which daily allowance cannot be lower than 50 percent of the established maximum daily allowance amounts);
- before setting lower amounts of daily allowances, it is ordered to carry out the information and consultation procedure established in the third section of Part III, Chapter III of the Labor Code;
- when a part of the daily allowance is paid by the event organizer, the daily allowance paid by the employer, together with the daily allowance paid by the event organizer, cannot be lower than the daily allowance calculated for the specific business trip. If the organizer of the event pays all the daily allowance set for a specific business trip, then the employer is not obliged to pay. If companies whose employees receive meals after going to the event, they will only be able to reduce the daily allowance by up to 50 % and only if such a reduction is provided for in a collective agreement or an internal normative legal act of the company;
- when going on a business trip abroad, the daily allowance is paid for the day of departure and return of the foreign country to which the business trip was. The fundamental change is that this provision is no longer associated with leaving Lithuania or returning to Lithuania, because nowadays a lot of employee work remotely and often leave for a business trip from their workplace, which is not in Lithuania;
- when going to several countries on the day of the business trip, the average of the daily allowance calculated according to the amounts determined for those countries is paid, except for the cases when entering another country due to a connecting flight or arriving by transit, or by another means of transport.
Additionally, we would like to note that a large part of the changes is related to budget institution business trips.
Please find the full list of maximum daily allowances, which is valid for business trips from 1st of August 2023, here: https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAD/2d6f0e43167d11eea9b3de7dd350a34e?jfwid=-pd71f8iry Please contact the Leinonen tax team for further assistance and advice.
