The continuous fixed (travel allowance) is canceled.

During the corona crisis, employers were allowed to see the working days from home as travel days for the fixed travel allowance for commuting. This will expire on 1 January 2021.

In 2020, employers may regard employees' working days from home as travel days for the fixed commuting allowances. You can exempt this reimbursement in a targeted manner and thus continue to pay the travel costs untaxed. Also with regard to fixed expense allowances, employers may continue to rely on the facts and circumstances on which the allowance is based. For both the fixed travel allowance and the fixed expense allowances, the approval applies if an unconditional right to the allowance existed before 13 March 2020. In addition, the Tax and Customs Administration will adopt a flexible approach in 2020 to employers who are unable to comply with an administrative obligation due to the corona measures. For example, it is not always possible to determine the identity of a new employee in time during the corona crisis. Normally you have to apply the anonymous rate. You may now omit this under certain conditions. This rule only applies to 2020 and will expire on January 1, 2021.

Mapping the travel pattern from 1 January
The expiry of the approvals means that next year you will have to map the (changed) commuting pattern of their employees. This must be tested against the 36 weeks or 128 days requirement and whether they can still give a fixed compensation. Employers can also reimburse the costs of commuting on the basis of the days actually traveled, so from 1 January 2021, employers will no longer be able to reimburse small expenses for working from home. Working from home has changed the facts and circumstances of many employers. They must therefore properly assess whether the substantiation for the reimbursement in 2021 is still sufficient.