Business Trip Expenses in 2026

A business trip expense policy is an internal company document that sets forth the rules: who (primary, remote, or part-time employees) travels, when, and under what conditions, what is reimbursed and under what conditions, how to document expenses, what documents are required for reimbursement, and a number of other issues. A business trip expense policy reduces chaos and helps demonstrate the logic behind compensation and the company’s internal policies, especially during audits. When the rules are clear upfront, there are fewer approvals and questions: employees know what can be paid and how.

Once written, the policy becomes outdated. Periodic updates are necessary because:

• current legislation changes;
• The organization’s business processes (the company entered a new market, hybrid work formats appeared, the approval system changed, representative events during business trips, etc.) change.

In addition, the Business Trip Policy should be updated when:

• the accounting department often returns expense reports to employees for revision;
• employees more often ask questions: “what?”, “how?”, “why?”;
• employees periodically incur expenses that are not reimbursed under the general rules;
• international business trips and electronic tickets have appeared;
• the document has not been revised for more than two years.

Amendments to Regulation No. 176 on the procedure and amounts of reimbursement of expenses, guarantees and compensation for business trips came into force on April 4, 2026. From that date:

1) daily allowances are set at 13 rubles when sending employees on business trips within the Republic of Belarus;

It should be noted that the increase in the daily allowance amount has led to an increase in the range of total payment amounts:

• for drivers engaged in domestic and international road transport, from 13 to 65 Belarusian rubles;
• for creative and other employees of theater and entertainment organizations when sending them to participate in foreign tours and other international cultural events from 13 to 39 Belarusian rubles.

Important: The specific amount of the total payment, as well as the procedure for its calculation, are determined by the employer in accordance with paragraph 37 of Regulation No. 176.

2) it has been introduced that when sending employees on business trips within the Republic of Belarus and abroad, if the employer, in an order (instruction, resolution), has determined a different place of residence for the employee on business trip relative to the locality (localities) to which the employee is sent on business trips, then reimbursement of accommodation expenses is made only on the basis of supporting documents.

Reimbursement of accommodation expenses based on supporting documents is made:

• when traveling on a business trip within the Republic of Belarus – no more than the cost of a first-category room in a hotel in the locality of the place of residence or a nearby locality if there is no hotel at the place of residence (parts 7 and 8, clause 15 of Regulation No. 176);
• business trip expenses abroad – in amounts not exceeding those established in Appendix 2 to Regulation No. 176 for the host country (part 12, clause 16 of Regulation No. 176).

For reference: Prior to 2026, rather global amendments regarding business trips were introduced in April 2024: it was determined that business trip expenses for non-scheduled route taxis are not subject to reimbursement, a provision was included on reimbursement of expenses for accommodation during a temporary stopovers on the territory of the Republic of Belarus, the list of other expenses subject to reimbursement upon mandatory submission of supporting documents was supplemented by commission expenses for exchanging one foreign currency for another, including taxes and fees for performing such transactions, a fee for registration in the electronic queue system of vehicles for entry into road checkpoints across the border of the Republic of Belarus, the procedure for making a general payment in the event of temporary disability of a business driver carrying out domestic and (or) international road transportation (driver) was established, etc.

Our company offers professional services for updating your current Business Trip Policies or developing a new edition of the document.

Updating the Business Trip Regulations will allow you to:

• bring the document into compliance with current legislation and be confident that your company is correctly accounting for business trip expenses in 2026;
• reduce the number of controversial situations and errors during inspections;
• resolve all pressing issues.

If you are interested in our offer, please send your inquiries to info@assurance.by or leave your inquiry using the form on our website.