Summary of reimbursement rules
Summary of rules created according to the 4.1 version of the the COST Vademecum (Section “Meetings – Financial Support”).
E-cost account
• if you don’t have an e-cost account, please create one here.
• if you do have an account, check that your profile data (name, last name, country of residence, email, IBAN) on e-COST are correct.
In general
Only travels from your residing country (as registered on the e-COST profile) to the country of the meeting are covered.
• Travels from or to other destinations constitute rule derogations.
• Interruptions of the travel and intermediate stays (other than for changing flights) constitute rule derogations.
• Any rule derogations have to be approved by the Grant Holder prior to making any bookings.
• You are asked to evaluate travel options and to buy your tickets as soon as possible before the event.
Travel dates (door to door)
• Travel start means the day and time when you get out from your home or office and start your travel for going to the meeting.
• Travel end means the day and time when you get back home or office and you end your travel after the meeting.
Flight
• Air fares cannot exceed 1.200€.
• Only economy class tickets can get reimbursed.
• Flight travels have to be documented by uploading flight tickets and itinerary/boarding passes that include the following information: date, time of departure and arrival and location of departure and arrival, ticket class (economy), name of the passenger, amount paid.
Car travel
• Toll charges, car rental, special equipment are not covered.
• Km to be reimbursed have to be proven by google maps print out.
• Car travel is limited to a maximum distance of 2 000 km for the entire journey.
• Car travel can be reimbursed at EUR 0.20 per km, when one eligible participant is traveling.
• Car travel can be reimbursed at EUR 0.30 per km, when additional participants, who are also eligible to be reimbursed are traveling in the same vehicle. Only the driver can be reimbursed. The names of the other eligible passengers must be mentioned on the remarks section of the claim submitted by the driver.
Local transport
• If expenses for local transport exceed a total of 25€ for the entire stay, receipts are required for all expenses.
Taxi
• Up to a max of 80€ for the entire meeting.
• Taxi expenses are only covered for travels: Between 10pm and 6am if the travel itinerary requires so. Please make sure the correct start time and date is written on the taxi invoice and corresponds to this time-frame (if not the reimbursement will not be accepted).
Parking
• Parking expenses are eligible to be reimbursed based on the submission of receipts/invoices and can only cover the time period relevant to the approved activity.
Accommodation and meals
• Both expenses are covered by flat rates.
• Default flat rates are: 120€ per 1 night (including breakfast), 20€ per meal, max 2 meals per day (meals offered by the local organizer can not be claimed).
• Flat rates can be adjusted for a given meeting (if they are, they will be expressly announced before sending the invitations).
• You can claim lunch only after 12.01am, you can claim dinner only after 7.01 pm. The eligible number of meals depends on travel start and end times as indicated by you on the e-COST form.
• Requests for extra night’s accommodation and/or extra meals constitute rule derogations and must be approved by COST Association before any bookings are done, please contact the Grant Holder in case.
[ After the meeting ]
Claims (a.k.a. OTRR) have to be submitted within 30 calendar days after the end of the meeting or shorter time-spans if expressively requested.
While submitting the OTRR, you need to upload on e-COST the following supporting documents.
• Tickets/invoices of public transport exceeding 25€ for the entire journey. Please remember that bus, train tickets within one country are considered public transport.
• Flight tickets and Receipt, including information on date, time of departure and arrival and location of departure and arrival, ticket class (economy), name of the passenger, amount paid.
• Print out of Google Maps proof of KM distance in case you traveled by car.
• Taxi invoices. Please make sure the correct start time and date is written on the taxi invoice.
• Parking invoices.
• In case of rule derogations, and only after pre-approval, screenshot proof to show that the chosen travel option was the cheapest option available. Please note that you are asked to evaluate travel options and to buy your tickets one month before the event.
No receipts need to be uploaded on e-COST for the following expenses:
• accommodation,
• meals,
• local transport costs below 25€ for the entire journey.
Last but not least, original receipts have to be kept by participants until the end of auditing time frame (July 2021).
For the official and complete reference, please read carefully the COST Vademecum ( Section “Meetings – Financial Support”).