Suitcase, train station, hotel: how travel accommodation expenses are reimbursed on a business trip

Aksana Kutsarskaya August 31, 2026 11:31 A business trip is not only about carrying out the employer's tasks, but also about the inevitable everyday issues, the main one being accommodation. The procedure for compensating rental housing costs within Belarus is strictly regulated by Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 176.

In this article, we will break down what amount to count on, how the receipts collected affect payments, and what innovations the legislation dictates.

✍️ Basic limits: how much does a night "cost" on a business trip

They apply to all organizations regardless of ownership form. ▪️The maximum reimbursement amount is the cost of a first-category room in a hotel in the locality where the employee is sent. If there is no hotel there, the cost of a first-category room in a hotel in the nearest locality is taken into account. ➡️For commercial organizations and individual entrepreneurs ☝️The employer independently determines the reimbursement procedure: either with supporting documents or without providing them. 📌 Based on supporting documents ▪️Actual expenses are reimbursed, but not exceeding the cost of a first-category room. ▪️If there are no documents ➡️Reimbursement amounts to from 5% to 20% of the established norm* for each calendar day of stay at the business trip location

The specific amount is fixed in a local legal act. 📌 Without providing supporting documents ▪️The calculation is based on the number of nights from the date of arrival at the business trip location to the date of departure from it, inclusive ▪️If actual expenses exceed the advance issued, calculated based on the number of nights, reimbursement is made on the basis of supporting documents, but not exceeding the maximum reimbursement amount (see general rules) ➡️ For budgetary organizations 📌 There are supporting documents — actual expenses are reimbursed, but not exceeding the maximum reimbursement amount (see general rule) 📌 No documents — 5% of the established norm* for each calendar day of stay at the business trip location. The size of the established norm:* 🏙 Minsk and regional centers — 50 rubles 🏘 District centers — 25 rubles 🏡 Other localities — 20 rubles.

Two scenarios: with and without receipts

A business has the right to independently fix in its internal rules (local legal acts) one of two methods of calculating accommodation:

1. Based on supporting documents

If you have diligently collected receipts, the employer is obligated to reimburse the actual amount spent, but strictly within the established limit (the cost of a first-category room in a local hotel). You may stay in hotels, motels, rent apartments from individual entrepreneurs (IE) or self-employed individuals, as well as live in sanatoriums.

🚫 Exception: Money for staying at agro-ecotourism estates is not reimbursed, even if you have an official receipt.

2. Without providing documents

If there are no receipts (for example, you stayed with relatives), the payment is calculated based on the number of nights from the day of arrival to the day of departure. For each night without confirmation, the company pays a fixed percentage — from 5% to 20% of the rate established by the Ministry of Finance (the exact figure must be specified by the organization in its internal Travel Business Travel Regulations).

In budget organizations, this percentage is fixed and amounts to strictly 5% of the rate (from 1.00 to 2.50 rubles per calendar day).

🔥 An important safety nuance: If you were issued an advance without documents (calculated, for example, at 10 rubles per night), but you ultimately rented an apartment at a higher cost and brought an official receipt, the accounting department is obligated to make a recalculation based on actual expenses (again, within the hotel limit).

Pitfalls and important exceptions

To avoid being left without payments, a business-traveling employee needs to keep in mind four special rules:

Short trips (less than 12 hours). If your business trip lasts two or more days, but you were at the destination itself for less than 12 hours, accommodation expenses are reimbursed only with an official receipt. Without documents, this period will not be paid.

"Minsk — District center" route. If within a single 24-hour period you visited cities with different tariff rates, the employer has the right to independently decide which tariff to use when calculating that day.

2026 novelty (Other place of residence). If the manager, in the order, deliberately recorded that you must live in one locality, even though the business trip itself is taking place in another, the "without documents" payment no longer applies. In such a situation, money will be returned strictly based on receipts.

Single-day trips. If you left in the morning and returned in the evening (or the order states that you have the opportunity to return home daily), accommodation rental expenses are not paid at all (including compensation without documents).

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