Hello,

Does anyone have any updates on competitive car allowance rates for the US and Canada?  Are there any resources/surveys that I can follow up on?

Thanks,

Sue Burns, SPHR

Many employers find it simplest to opt to adopt the 51 cents (USD), per the 2011 IRS Mileage Reimburesement Rate Schedule http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=232017,00.html.

Thank you for your response.  We do reimburse at the IRS limits. 

The car allowance is a separate flat amount (paid monthly) for sales employees and senior staff members.  

Are your referring to a FAVR policy?  That is the other option instead of literal specific reimbursement.  You do both?  That involves a lot of very complex justifications and documentation, and there are limitations on FAVR allowances; for instance, they are restricted to non-management employees.  Here is the most current 2004 IRS reg, which seems to say you can deduct one or the other but not both, although enough tax accountants and legal counsel can probably find a way.  Not being either, I usually opt for doing it the easy way, through direct business expense reimbursement or a flat fixed mileage rate.

No, we don't pay both.  We pay an allowance or mileage.

I was mostly interested in Canadian monthly allownces. 

Thanks for your feedback.

I am looking for something similar as well and not having much luck.  So far the best info I have found is the Company Car and Vehicle Allowances WOW survey for 2008.  I purchased a survey from Watson that did not have the detail I am really looking for.  I will post if I find anything better!

From some research that a colleague and I worked on in 2009, information from several sources, Canadian Mercer Policies and Practices, Conference Board of Canada, Car Allowances January 2009 and there is some survey information available from CERC (Canadian Employee Relocation Council) with regard to car allowances and regional differences.

Our findings for a monthly allowance at the P50 level for the following Employee Groups were as follows:

• CEO                      $1000
• Executives             $  900
• Management        $  650
• Professional         $  562
• Sales                     $  600

What I am interested in finding out is, what the prevailing reimbursement rate is for business mileage for Canadian employees on an allowance?  I have seen $0.17 and $0.19 as some of the reimbursement amounts, but I am also aware of a high mileage amount that could get paid over a certain amount of km's per month.  Some other average information that I have found would indicate that this rate could be $0.27, but this may not be region specific.

If anyone could provide some insight into the mileage reimbursement rate for EE's on allowance, it would be appreciated.