Reimbursement of expenses for business trips in the Netherlands
If you want to travel on business in the Netherlands, you must request permission to do so from your manager. If you travel for work, you are entitled to an allowance for travel and subsistence expenses.
In principle, you travel by public transport, unless that is not possible, in which case you may use your own means of transport, a taxi, or a rental car, but you should discuss this beforehand with your manager.
From 1 November 2024, we have a new mobility policy that encourages sustainable commuting. You can keep track of your trips and allowances in the Shuttel app. The new mobility policy also has consequences for your home-working allowance, your internet allowance, and the kilometre allowance via the Terms of Employment Individual Choices Model.
Allowance
- If you travel by public transport, you will be reimbursed for the actual costs incurred. If travelling by train, you should travel second class. You can use your Shuttel card, which will automatically register your journey in the app/My Shuttel. Please indicate in Shuttel that this is a business trip. Then select ‘business’.
- If you use your own means of transport, you will be reimbursed €0.23 per kilometre. Please register this trip in Shuttel to receive the allowance.
- When entering a business trip in Shuttel, you will see a field for a project code. Here you can enter the SAP number to which the costs can be booked. The system automatically checks whether the number you entered actually exists. You can ask your manager which SAP number you should use.
If you cannot get to your destination by public transport or some other means of transport, you can, exceptionally, hire a taxi or rental car in consultation with your manager. The procedure you need to follow is as follows:
- Discuss the option with your manager.
- Once they have approved your request, you can book the taxi/rental car, and claim the expenses via the expenses application in Self Service.
- When claiming a taxi or rental car, make sure you include your receipts and your trip statement, so we can reimburse your expenses in full.
Reimbursement rates as of 1 January 2025
| Type | Amount |
|---|---|
| Dinner |
€ 32,37 |
| Lodging |
€ 152,19 |
| Breakfast |
€ 14,87 |
Conditions
You will receive an allowance for dinner, accommodation and breakfast untaxed and regardless of the amount you actually spent, provided you meet the following conditions:
- You actually incurred these expenses in a designated establishment.
- You do not need to include receipts for these expenses in your claim. However, dinner time (between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.) must fall within your business trip.
- The breakfast allowance and accommodation allowance only apply to overnight stays during a business trip.
Claim your business trip in the Netherlands
You can claim your travel expenses in Shuttel. You can claim a taxi/rental car (exceptionally) via the expenses application in Self Service. Subsistence expenses (dinner, accommodation, and breakfast) can also be claimed via the expenses application in Self Service.
Staff that are not employed by the University
Assessors are not employed by the University and are entitled to reimbursement of commuting expenses. Assessors can file their claim via the expenses claim form for staff that is not employed by the University.
Want to know more?
- More information about the mobility policy
- More information about Shuttel
Funding
LIAS is committed to supporting professional travel of its employees: conference attendance, research and training trips, etc.
Travel funding application
Diversity of individual circumstances and our budgetary situation make it impossible to set fixed individual travel budgets. Funding is allocated by the LIAS MT, taking into account overall budgetary and policy issues, the availability of project monies (NWO, etc), and previous support for the applicant. LIAS funding normally does not exceed 1000 euros and a member of staff can only apply for funding once a year and only, when attending a conference, to present a paper. Staff should explore other sources of (co-)funding first before applying for support from LIAS. This includes grants and subsidies from funds and foundations within the university, such as AMT, Global Interactions, LUCIS, IIAS, LeidenAsiaCentre, the Aillion Foundation and the Leiden University Fund. Evidence of applications and amount of funding received from these sources should be included with the application for LIAS funding. Decisions on funding will be made 3 times per year, in the first week of April, August and December. Please plan well ahead so you can register in time for the conference you want to visit.
You should run your plans by your supervisor (leidinggevende) prior to submitting your application to lias@hum.leidenuniv.nl with cc to your supervisor.
Funding will be limited to travel and accommodation, and other directly work-related items such as conference fees. Per diem costs, such as dinners and lunches, will not be funded.
If your application is successful, you will be notified, including instructions for claiming the expenses.
If there's budget left after applications have been granted LIAS might grant it to earlier denied applications.
Useful links
- Procedure for booking (international) business trips. All staff members should be “authorized bookers”in the Uniglobe system. If you run into problems opening an account, please contact the LIAS office.
- Expense claims of University staff. Please be aware that in selfservice the system automatically calculates a per diem allowance. LIAS does not pay for such expenses from the central travel budget. You should change the numbers of dinners, lunches etc into zero in order to claim just the hotel costs. Update the claim by pushing the small button with the two arrows on the right hand site below the specification of your costs to see if it worked before submitting.
- Government rate list of hotel fees abroad (Dutch only)
Guest participants in PhD defense
For PhD defenses, LIAS will pay for travelcosts of one examiner from outside the University, preferably from the Netherlands. If necessary costs will be covered for one examiner from Europe (flight and 1 night accommodation). Please contact the LIAS office well in advance to arrange this.