2026-2027 IRS Per Diem Rates: High-Low and Meal Allowances

Published rates at a glance

Choose the authorized method before comparing amounts. A transportation-industry meal allowance is not the lodging-and-meals high-low rate, and an incidental-only allowance cannot simply be stacked onto an allowance already covering the same incidentals. The correct method depends on the payer, traveler, substantiation arrangement and type of expense, not which number produces the largest deduction.

Check both the locality and its travel dates

The IRS notice contains a defined list of high-cost localities and, for some entries, a seasonal window. A hotel with a high room price is not sufficient evidence of high-cost status. Match the named city, county or defined area and the dates of the trip. A location can use the high rate in one season and the low rate in another under the same annual notice.

The new notice also changes parts of the locality list and some seasonal dates. For repeated trips, retain the applicable list with the expense records rather than relying on last year's itinerary spreadsheet. Use the official notice to check an exact location; this guide does not replace its full city-and-county table or make an address-based classification.

An allowance is not the same as a deductible amount

Per diem substantiation can replace a receipt-based amount for specified expenses when the governing requirements are met. It does not prove that a trip was business travel away from a tax home. The business purpose, time, place and required records remain important. Accountable-plan reimbursement treatment is a separate question from the traveler's final deduction.

Meal limitations must still be applied where relevant. The full $329 or $230 includes both lodging and a specified meal component; treating the entire figure as meals, or deducting both the allowance and the same actual costs, gives the wrong result. Special transportation-industry treatment has its own conditions and should not be applied to every person who drives for work.

Self-employed travelers need a different lodging check

A self-employed person should not automatically multiply Schedule C travel days by the employee high-low lodging-and-meals allowance. Review Publication 463's rules for using a standard meal allowance and retaining actual lodging records. Business mileage, vehicle costs, lodging, meals and incidentals are distinct categories even when they arise on one trip.

For a reimbursement received from a client or another business, determine who bears the expense and which party must substantiate it. Do not assume that an invoice labeled per diem establishes tax-free treatment. The site's deduction finder can organize the categories, but it does not certify an accountable plan or automatically authorize a lodging allowance.

Use the correct effective period and keep the records

The notice applies from October 1, 2026, with specific conditions for allowances, travel dates and deductions. It points to transition rules for the final three months of 2026. A calendar-year tax return can therefore contain trips falling under different rate periods. Preserve the travel date with the rate used instead of choosing a rate only from the return's year.

For travel later in 2027, check for the next annual notice before reusing these figures. This publication does not establish a calendar-year 2027 vehicle-mileage rate. The mileage calculator's separately disclosed planning baseline should not be replaced by any per diem figure.

• Record the business purpose, destination, departure and return dates.
• Identify the reimbursement or substantiation method actually permitted.
• Keep locality and seasonal-status evidence with the relevant notice.
• Separate lodging, meals, incidentals and vehicle expenses without duplicate claims.