Travel expenses

Travel expenses are costs incurred because you are traveling for an assignment: travel costs, accommodation, additional meal expenses, and incidental costs such as parking fees or baggage. For tax purposes, they are operating expenses if you bear them yourself; in relation to the production, they are a negotiating point alongside the fee.

Four categories with different rules

Travel costs

For train, air travel, or taxi, the actual costs according to the ticket or receipt count. If you drive your own car, you can either claim a mileage allowance or the proportional actual vehicle costs if the vehicle is part of your business assets. The allowance is adjusted regularly and is therefore not specified here.

Accommodation

The actual hotel costs according to the invoice are deductible. Any included breakfast must be deducted because meals are covered under a separate rule.

Meals

Meals while traveling are not accounted for using receipts, but through flat-rate allowances based on the length of absence. The details are provided under additional meal expenses.

Incidental costs

Parking fees, baggage surcharges, seat reservations, and public transportation at the destination also count, in each case with a receipt.

When travel is business-related

For self-employed people, the reference point is their own business premises; for most performers, this is their home, from which they organize their work. Travel to changing shooting locations, studios, or a casting is therefore business-related. A trip that combines business and private purposes, such as a shoot followed by a vacation, can only be taken into account proportionally. The private portion is excluded.

Reimbursement by the production

Many productions cover travel expenses directly by booking the ticket or hotel themselves. In that case, you have neither an expense nor income. If the production reimburses costs that you paid in advance, the reimbursement is income and the original costs remain your expense. If you do not apply the small business scheme, the reimbursement charged on is generally part of the remuneration and is invoiced with VAT. This surprises many people because it feels like a mere pass-through.

Without an agreement, it is generally assumed in case of doubt that the fee covers everything. The organizational side—who pays for what and when this is clarified—is described in the expenses entry; what can be charged additionally is covered in the article Travel expenses, expenses, waiting time.

Receipts you should collect

• Tickets, booking confirmations, and hotel invoices, preferably issued in your name.
• For car journeys, a travel log stating the date, starting point, destination, mileage, and purpose.
• The assignment reference, such as a Call Sheet or booking confirmation, to document the business purpose.
• Receipts for incidental costs, including for small amounts.

Before accepting any assignment, check the distance to the shooting location and weigh the travel expenses against the fee. A short assignment with a long journey may hardly be worthwhile without reimbursement. Put the agreement on travel expenses in writing, preferably in the same message as the fee.

This entry outlines the basic principles and does not replace tax advice; clarify allowances and special cases with a tax advisor or the tax office.