this allowance was, IIRC, the fallout from the early and mid 90s where lots of people were taking the mick. I was one of them - IIRC we were squeezing 3500 per month tax- and deduction-free - there were some big bills going back 2-3 years that were negotiated down.

That was back in the old Jim Shaw "It's all for charity" days - aka tour de Suisse with agency aperos