On a travel day, you get 75 percent of the meals and incidental expenses (M&IE) rate for your destination. At the standard 2026 CONUS rate of $68, that comes to $51 for the day you leave and $51 for the day you return. The percentage is fixed by the Federal Travel Regulation and the IRS substantiation rules, and it does not shift based on what time you actually depart or arrive. So the short answer to how much per diem you get on travel days is three-quarters of the daily M&IE figure that applies to where you’re going, plus the full lodging cost for any night you spend away from home.
The 75 Percent Rule, Regardless of Time
The Federal Travel Regulation pays 75 percent of the applicable M&IE rate on the first and last calendar day of any trip lasting 24 hours or more. Every full day in between pays 100 percent. The reduced travel-day amount reflects that part of those days is spent at home or at your regular duty station rather than at the destination.1eCFR. 41 CFR 301-11.101 What Allowance Will I Be Paid for MIE
Your schedule does not change the calculation. A 6:00 AM departure pays the same 75 percent as an 11:00 PM departure. A noon return pays the same 75 percent as a midnight return. The rule is tied to the calendar day, not the number of hours you were actually in travel status.
A Four-Day Example
Using the $68 standard CONUS M&IE rate:
- Day 1, departure: $68 × 0.75 = $51.00
- Day 2, full day: $68
- Day 3, full day: $68
- Day 4, return: $68 × 0.75 = $51.00
Total M&IE: $238.00. The 75 percent factor applies only to M&IE. Lodging follows a different rule, covered below.
The 12-Hour Minimum for Any Meal Allowance
If your trip lasts 12 hours or less, no meal per diem is authorized at all. For a trip longer than 12 hours but shorter than 24 hours, such as a same-day round trip that runs long, you get 75 percent of the M&IE rate for each calendar day you’re in travel status.2eCFR. 41 CFR Part 301-11 Subsistence Expenses Trips of 24 hours or more use the full 75/100/75 pattern.
Short day trips catch travelers off guard. If you leave at 8:00 AM and are back by 6:00 PM, you’re under the 12-hour floor and no meal allowance is due, even if you paid for lunch on the road.
Finding the Rate That Applies to Your Destination
The $68 standard rate is the floor. About 300 U.S. localities carry higher M&IE tiers based on local costs, ranging from $74 to $92 per day. Enter the city or zip code at gsa.gov/perdiem to see the M&IE rate for where you’re going, then multiply by 0.75 for your travel-day allowance.3U.S. General Services Administration. MIE Breakdowns For quick reference, the first-and-last-day amounts at common tiers are $55.50 at $74 localities, $60.00 at $80 localities, and higher figures scaled the same way.
If your trip passes through multiple cities, document which locality’s rate applies to each night. The travel-day calculation uses the rate for the location tied to that day’s overnight stay.
When a Meal Is Provided, Subtract It
If a conference, host, or agency provides a meal at no cost to you, you deduct that meal’s value from the day’s M&IE. The GSA publishes a breakdown of the $68 standard rate as $16 breakfast, $19 lunch, $28 dinner, and $5 incidental expenses, with proportional amounts at higher tiers.3U.S. General Services Administration. MIE Breakdowns
The deduction comes out of the reduced travel-day amount, not the full rate. So if your departure day pays $51 and lunch is provided, you subtract the full $19 lunch value, leaving $32 for the day. The regulation takes the whole allocated meal value out of the already-decreased amount; there is no separate proration of the meal deduction.2eCFR. 41 CFR Part 301-11 Subsistence Expenses Check the agenda before filing your claim.
Lodging Is Not Prorated
Lodging works differently. On the first travel day, you receive the full lodging allowance for the location where you spend the night, reimbursed at actual cost up to the GSA maximum for that zip code. The time you check in doesn’t matter; a 10:00 PM arrival still gets the full nightly rate.4eCFR. 41 CFR Part 301-11 Subpart A General Rules
On the last travel day there is generally no lodging allowance, because you are heading home and do not need a room. Lodging is binary: either you stayed the night and qualify, or you did not. That is different from the M&IE rule, which pays 75 percent on both travel days no matter when you actually eat.
For domestic travel, hotel occupancy taxes are reimbursed as a separate miscellaneous expense and do not count against your lodging per diem cap.2eCFR. 41 CFR Part 301-11 Subsistence Expenses Keep the receipt.
If Your Employer Uses the IRS High-Low Method
Private employers are not required to use the GSA’s location-specific rates. Many use the IRS high-low substantiation method, which collapses the country into two tiers. For the period beginning October 1, 2025:5IRS.gov. Notice 2025-54 Special Per Diem Rates
- High-cost localities: $319 total, of which $86 is M&IE
- All other CONUS localities: $225 total, of which $74 is M&IE
The 75 percent rule still applies to the M&IE portion on travel days. That works out to $64.50 per travel day in a high-cost area and $55.50 in other CONUS areas. The IRS publishes the list of high-cost localities as part of the same annual notice.
Self-Employed Travelers
If you are self-employed, you can use the federal per diem rates to figure your meal deduction on Schedule C, but only for meals. Lodging has to be deducted at actual cost with receipts; there is no per diem shortcut for it.6IRS.gov. Per Diem Payments Frequently Asked Questions
The 75 percent rule is the same: on departure and return days you deduct 75 percent of the applicable M&IE rate, and on full days you deduct 100 percent. IRS Publication 463 labels this “Method 1,” claiming three-fourths of the standard meal allowance on each partial travel day.7IRS.gov. Publication 463 Travel Gift and Car Expenses Use the same fiscal-year rate table consistently for all travel on a single return.