Expense reimbursement for volunteers

Make arrangements with volunteers about theonkostenthat you want to reimburse (e.g., travel/phone costs) and/or thevolunteer compensationthe rules for all volunteers are the same. You are not obliged to offer a fee if no agreements have been made.

How much compensation?

As a volunteer organization, you want to ensure that your volunteers do not have to incur expenses for the work they do. If they do incur costs, you can offer them an expense reimbursement or a volunteer allowance. You are not obligated to provide a reimbursement.

In this piece, you will read about the difference between an expense reimbursement and a volunteer allowance, and how to best include these costs in your application.

Expense reimbursement

An expense reimbursement is a compensation for the costs that a volunteer actually and demonstrably incurs for their volunteer work. This includes travel expenses, the cup of coffee outside with the participant, or the work gloves that the volunteer has purchased themselves. It is important that you can demonstrate that the volunteer has indeed incurred these costs. You do this with the help of administrative evidence such as receipts and a reimbursement form. In your accounting, you record that you have provided an expense reimbursement.No maximum amountThe expense reimbursement only covers the actual costs incurred by the volunteer. Therefore, there is no maximum limit to the reimbursement that the volunteer can receive. Additionally, no tax needs to be paid on the reimbursement, but this applies only if the amount of this reimbursement is equal to the costs incurred by the volunteer.Include expense reimbursement in subsidy/fund applicationIf you know that volunteers will incur costs for their volunteer work with you, and you rely on grants or funding, you can include an expense reimbursement in your application and budget. Be realistic in this and explicitly state that the requested amount will be used to cover the costs that volunteers incur for their volunteer work. You may also add concrete examples.

Volunteer compensation

A small part of the volunteer organizations works with a volunteer allowance. This is a fixed allowance that you give to the volunteer, for example per hour, per day(part) or per week. This allows the volunteer to cover any travel costs, phone costs, materials, or for example the museum visit with the buddy. The advantage of providing a volunteer allowance compared to a reimbursement of expenses is that as an organization you do not need to ask the volunteer for proof of the incurred expenses (receipts, tram tickets). This saves both of you a lot of administrative work. In the accounting, you record that a volunteer allowance has been provided, and you keep a proof of this, for example in the form of a reimbursement form.Maximum amountsFor the volunteer compensation, maximum amounts per hour, month, and year have been established by theTax Authority. For 2026, this is € 5.75 per hour (€ 3.40 for young people up to and including 20 years), € 220 per month, and € 2200 per year. Note: if you provide a higher compensation, your organization may be liable for social insurance premiums and taxes. Moreover, if you pay a volunteer more than € 5.75 or € 3.40 per hour, you must demonstrate that this higher compensation is not a market-conform reward. If you fail to do so, the normal rules for wage taxes apply.

Good to know: according to the Tax Authorities, the volunteer compensation also includes the costs your organization incurs for in-kind compensation to the volunteer, such as a Christmas package, birthday gift, or participation in the annual outing. So, include this in the amount for the volunteer compensation in your budget.Include volunteer compensation in subsidy/fund applicationThe volunteer compensation is sometimes used as a reward for volunteer work, but from the Tax Authorities’ perspective, the volunteer compensation is actually a fixed amount that covers all (un)costs incurred by or for the volunteer. This is confusing. If you apply for a subsidy from the municipality of Amsterdam, a volunteer compensation will generally not be granted. An expense reimbursement will. We advise applying for an expense reimbursement in the subsidy application, as this clarifies the purpose of the reimbursement and has no associations with a reward.

Agreements on compensation

Always make clear agreements with volunteers about which expenses you reimburse and/or the amount of the volunteer compensation you offer. Ensure that the rules are the same for all volunteers, or that it is clear why there is a difference in providing an expense or volunteer compensation to a volunteer in your organization.NB: The above texts are guidelines; the actual assessment lies with the Tax Authority. We strongly appeal to logical and correct financial conduct. For more information about reimbursements and taxes, see thewebsite of the Tax Authorities.

Benefits & volunteer work

If someone receives a benefit and also a compensation for volunteer work, the amount of the benefit does not change as long as the volunteer compensation does not exceed the legal monthly or yearly amount. If the total exceeds the maximum, the exemption is revoked (for the rest of the year), and everything that person receives afterwards is considered income. This can indeed have consequences for the benefit. Someone with an unemployment benefit must always first ask for permission from the UWV before doing volunteer work. For people with a WIA, Wajong, WAO, or Sick Leave benefit, this is not mandatory, but it is recommended to consult with the UWV in advance.Younger than 27 years?Then your benefits will indeed be reduced if you receive a volunteer allowance. This does not happen with reimbursement for actual expenses incurred.