Claiming for a Travel Concession Payment
What Do I Need to Know
What Journeys Qualify for a Travel Concession
Travel Concessions can be paid for journeys within New Zealand undertaken for private purposes only. Travel concessions can be paid for:
- one-way trips of 80 km or more or return trips of 160 km or more; and
- trips taken by public transport service, scheduled air service, or private vehicle.
A series of short trips that, when added together, result in travel of 80 km or more will not qualify for a Travel Concession payment.
If your travel consists of a number journeys, each journey that is 80km or more will qualify for a Travel Concession payment. If undertaking a long journey as a single trip (e.g. Auckland to Wellington in one day), short refreshment breaks may be taken without breaking the journey. Similarly, if you are required to use connecting services (e.g. bus to bus, train to train or plane to plane) in order to get to your destination using a public transport service or scheduled air service, provided the journey is continued by taking the next available connecting service the travel is deemed to be undertaken as a single journey. However, if you stop in a place for an extended period of time before resuming travel or if you stay in a place overnight you will be deemed to have commenced a new journey.
If, on the same day of travel you travel to one destination and then return to your starting location before travelling to another destination, you will be deemed to have commenced a new journey. Similarly, whenever you change your mode of transport (e.g. private vehicle to ferry, bus to train, bus to aeroplane) a new journey is deemed to have commenced.
You are not entitled to a Travel Concession payment if:
- the journey was for purposes associated with employment or self-employment;
- the journey was, or could have been, undertaken at no cost by using a SuperGold card;
- you were or are entitled to be reimbursed for travel under any legislation (e.g. medical travel associated with your War Disablement Pension or a medical condition accepted by ACC; and
- the journey was undertaken by two or more eligable veterans in the same private vehicle and another veteran makes a claim for that journey.
How is a Travel Concession Paid
The amount payable under a Travel Concession in respect of travel:
- on a public transport service is a refund of the cost of the ticket and, if you are eligable to travel with an escort, the cost of your escort's ticket;
- on a scheduled air service is the lesser of either the cost of the ticket or 22.5 cents per kilometre; or
- by private vehicle is 22.5 cents per kilometre.
Where a Travel Concession payment is based on distance travelled, the payment is based on the shortest road distance between:
- the nearest localities (town or city) to your starting location and destination; or
- from airport to airport when travelling by scheduled air service.
All distances will be determined using the Wises Maps website (www.wises.co.nz).
To qualify for a Travel Concession payment for a journey to or from an airport the journey between your starting location or destination and the airport must be 80km or more.
When Must an Application be Made
Every application must be lodged after the journey is completed but before the end of the calendar month following the month in which the journey ocurred (e.g. if the journey took place on 10 February 2011, the application must be received by 31 March 2011).
What Evidence do I Need to Provide
When making a Travel Concession claim you must be able to demonstrate;
- where you started and ended each journey;
- the type of transport used to undertake the journey; and
- that the journey was undertaken as a single trip of 80km or more.
The type of evidence you will need to provide when making a Travel Concession application depends on the type of transport used to undertake a particular journey.
Public Transport Service.
If you undertake a journey using a public transport service, you need to provide your original ticket and evidence of the cost of your ticket if the cost is not recorded on the ticket itself. If you are eligible to travel with an escort you will also need to provide your escort’s ticket and evidence of the cost of that ticket.
Scheduled Air Service
If you undertake a journey using a scheduled air service, you need to provide your original ticket or boarding pass along with evidence of the cost of your ticket. The evidence must show the actual airfare. Insurance and/or excess baggage costs cannot be claimed.
Private Vehicle
If you travel by private vehicle you are required to provide a minimum of two original full EFTPOS or GST receipts for fuel you have purchased. Fuel must be purchased from the nearest fuel provider to your starting location and destination based on the route travelled. Fuel purchases should be made when you commence travel and upon reaching your destination so that it is clear that the travel was undertaken as a single journey and not as a series of smaller trips. Copies, handwritten receipts or receipt stubs will not be accepted.
If you start or end a journey at a location where fuel is available, you need to purchase fuel from that location. However, if you start or end a journey at a location that has no fuel provider, or you depart or arrive at a time when the fuel provider is closed, you need to obtain a receipt from the nearest open fuel provider based on the route travelled.
If you begin or end a journey at a location where fuel cannot be purchased, you need to provide an original full EFTPOS receipt or GST receipt for a purchase you made at that location in addition to providing a receipt for fuel you purchased from the nearest fuel provider to that location based on the route travelled. If a purchase cannot be made from your starting location or destination, you need to make a purchase at the closest locality to your starting location or destination (if that locality is closer than the nearest fuel provider).
Please note that where it is not possible to independently verify the full journey claimed, provided you submit the necessary receipts to demonstrate that, as part of your overall travel you journeyed between two localities that are 80 km or more apart as a single trip, the Travel Concession will be paid based on the portion of your travel that can be verified. In cases where it is not possible to verify that any of a journey claimed meets the eligibility criteria, no Travel Concession payment will be made.
What Do I Need to Do
Complete the Travel Concession Payment Application Form, verify that the information and evidence provided is a true and correct account of your travel by signing and dating the declaration in Part 3 and send the completed form and your evidence of travel to:
Travel Concession Application
Veterans' Affairs New Zealand
P O Box 9448
HAMILTON 3240
If the Application Form is not completed in full and/or if the evidence required is not provided or is insufficient, a Travel Concession may not be paid.
- Form: Claiming for a Travel Concession [pdf 101kb]
- Travel Concession Reimbursement Information Sheet [99.5kb]
If you have any questions about how to fill out this form, you can contact Veterans’ Affairs New Zealand on free phone 0800 483 8372. Application forms can also be downloaded from this website.
Please write in BLOCK LETTERS with a blue or black pen. Please do not write in pencil.