Meal Allowance 2026 (Germany): Travel Per Diems

If you travel for work, you eat out — and that’s exactly what the meal allowance (Verpflegungspauschale) is for: fixed amounts without a single receipt. In 2026 that’s €28 per full day. This guide shows when which rate applies, how the reduction for provided meals works, and where the most common mistakes lie.

In short: For business travel within Germany in 2026: €28 per full day, €14 for the arrival/departure day and for absences over 8 hours. You need no receipts. Provided meals reduce the allowance (breakfast €5.60, lunch/dinner €11.20 each). After 3 months at the same location the allowance ceases. Employees claim it as an income-related expense, the self-employed as a business expense.

The 2026 rates within Germany

The meal allowance depends on the duration of absence from your home and first place of work:

• Full calendar day (24 h away): €28
• Arrival and departure day (multi-day trip): €14 each
• Single day, more than 8 h away: €14
• Up to 8 h away: no allowance

The beauty: these amounts are flat rates. You don’t need to collect restaurant receipts — the allowance applies regardless of what you actually spent.

Reduction for provided meals

If meals are provided — by the employer, in the hotel price, or at a conference — the daily allowance is reduced. The benchmark is always the full daily rate of €28:

• Breakfast: − 20% = €5.60
• Lunch: − 40% = €11.20
• Dinner: − 40% = €11.20

A hotel breakfast counts as a provided meal — even if it’s “included” in the room price.

Worked example

Sales rep Jonas is away for three days (arriving in the evening, leaving in the morning), hotel with breakfast on the two overnight days.

• Arrival day (no meal provided): €14.00
• Full day: €28 − €5.60 breakfast = €22.40
• Departure day: €14 − €5.60 breakfast = €8.40
• Total: €44.80

If these amounts aren’t reimbursed tax-free by his employer, Jonas claims them as income-related expenses.

The 3-month rule

If you work longer at the same external location, the meal allowance is available only for the first three months. After that it ceases. Only a break of at least four weeks restarts the period. This typically affects longer project assignments at the same client.

Germany vs abroad

For foreign trips, country-specific per diems apply, published annually by the Federal Ministry of Finance — often higher than the domestic rates. The relevant place is generally the one you reach before midnight.

Common mistakes

1. Not reducing for hotel breakfast. It counts as a provided meal — a classic audit point.
2. Overlooking the 8-hour threshold. Under 8 h there’s no allowance.
3. Ignoring the 3-month rule. On continuous assignments the allowance runs only three months.
4. Trying to collect receipts. Unnecessary — the allowance is independent of actual costs.

If you travel by your own car, combine the allowance with travel costs — more in Company car and travel costs. If you entertain business partners, different rules apply: Deducting business meals. And what else belongs in income-related expenses is in the deductions list.

How Restio helps

The allowance is simple — until meals, travel days and the 3-month rule come together. Restio calculates it cleanly for you:

• Log the trip — enter travel days and provided meals, and Restio calculates the correct allowance including reductions.
• Instant answers — ask in English or German: “How much meal allowance do I get for three days with hotel breakfast?”
• Financial Guardian — you get a heads-up when a continuous assignment reaches the 3-month limit.

For integration into payroll or the EÜR, your tax advisor helps — Restio makes sure you give away no travel day.

The meal allowance is one of the few flat rates with no receipt requirement — and for frequent travellers it adds up. Those who know the rates, the reduction and the rule take it in full. The foreign per diems are published by the Federal Ministry of Finance.