Per Diem Rates Germany

Per diem rates Germany means German travel allowances here, not US or State Department rates. Germany lets employees receive, tax-free from their employer, a flat meal allowance for each day of a business trip, and lets the self-employed deduct the same flat amounts. It is called Verpflegungspauschale, and the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) publishes the amounts for every country once a year.

For a trip inside Germany in 2026 the allowance is 28 EUR for each full 24-hour day and 14 EUR for the day of arrival and the day of departure. Choose a country below for the foreign rates, and tick the meals provided to see the deduction.

How to calculate the German per diem

1. Pick the destination country. Choose “Germany (domestic)” for a trip inside Germany. If the country has city rates, such as Paris or London, a second box lets you choose the city.
2. Pick the type of day: a full 24-hour day, an arrival or departure day (also a one-day trip of more than 8 hours), or an absence of 8 hours or less, which earns nothing.
3. Tick the meals that your employer or host provided on that day. Each ticked meal deducts a share of the 24-hour rate.
4. Read the allowance for the day, and the total for a trip of the length you enter, with no meals provided.
5. Check the table below the result for the rates behind the number.
6. If the trip crosses several countries, run the calculator once for each day and add the results. A day counts for the country where you are at midnight, subject to the higher-of rule in the letter.

Who gets the German Verpflegungspauschale?

Employees on business trips, paid tax-free by their employer up to the flat amounts, or claimed in the tax return if the employer paid nothing. The self-employed deduct the same flat rates as a business expense. In both cases the allowance is for the extra cost of meals when you are away from home and from your regular place of work. After three months at the same place of work the allowance stops for that place. It is not a payment in itself: the rates say how much can be tax-free or deductible.

What are the domestic rates for 2026?

28 EUR for a full day of 24 hours, 14 EUR for the day of arrival and the day of departure on a trip of several days, and 14 EUR for a single-day trip with more than 8 hours away. With 8 hours or less there is no allowance.

How is the deduction for provided meals worked out?

If the employer provides a meal, the allowance is cut by a share of the 24-hour rate: 20 percent for breakfast, 40 percent for lunch and 40 percent for dinner. At home that is 5.60, 11.20 and 11.20 EUR. A full day with all three meals provided is 28 - 5.60 - 11.20 - 11.20 = 0 EUR: the allowance never goes below zero. Abroad the shares apply to the 24-hour rate of the country of the day: in Denmark, where the 24-hour rate is 75 EUR, breakfast is 15 EUR.

What are the rates abroad?

The BMF letter has a row for 175 countries and 48 cities. Every row has a 24-hour amount and an arrival and departure amount. A few examples:

A country that is not in the table uses the Luxembourg rate: 63 EUR for 24 hours and 42 EUR for arrival and departure. The lodging flat rates in the table are only for employers who reimburse hotel costs without receipts; they are not an allowance for the traveller.

How does the BMF example with two trips work out?

On a Tuesday where one trip ends in Strasbourg and the next starts in Copenhagen, only the higher of the two amounts counts: France 36 EUR (arrival or departure rate) against Denmark 50 EUR. Denmark wins. If breakfast was provided, 20 percent of the Danish 24-hour rate of 75 EUR, which is 15 EUR, is deducted, so the allowance for that day is 35 EUR. The calculator on this page does one day or one trip at a time; for several trips in a row use the same rule by hand.

Which country counts on a day with two countries?

For a day that ends in a place, the rate of the place where you are at midnight counts, with a higher-of rule on arrival and departure days. Days entirely on a plane or a ship have their own rules in the letter. This page does not model those cases.

Frequently asked questions

What is the per diem in Germany for 2026?

28 EUR for 24 hours and 14 EUR for arrival and departure days, for trips inside Germany. Abroad it depends on the country: for example 50 EUR for 24 hours in Austria, 75 in Denmark and 59 in the United States.

Is this the same as the US per diem?

No. These are German tax rates in euros, set by the German Federal Ministry of Finance. For US rates see GSA per diem rates.

Does a self-employed person get the German allowance?

They may deduct the same flat rates as business expenses. The deduction for provided meals only matters where someone else provided the meal.

What happens if my country is not in the table?

The rate for Luxembourg applies.

Do the foreign rates include hotel costs?

No. The meal allowance covers meals only. The lodging flat rates in the BMF table are for employers who reimburse hotel costs without receipts; hotel costs you pay yourself are claimed with receipts.

When do the 2026 rates expire?

On 31 December 2026. New rates start on 1 January and are published by the BMF in the preceding weeks.

Can I get a per diem for a trip of eight hours or less?

No, not for a one-day trip. The allowance starts above 8 hours of absence.

• Per diem calculator: US trips, with the employee and self-employed views.
• GSA per diem rates: the US federal rates by city.
• M&IE rates: the US meals breakdown.
• Federal per diem rates: all US destinations in one table.
• Per diem rates New York: the US rate for a city that also has a German rate (66 EUR).
• Per diem rates 2026: the US rates of last fiscal year.