HMRC Meal Allowance Rates and Per Diem Explained
Last reviewed: October 2026
HMRC offers employers and employees in the UK a range of ways to reclaim tax for work related expenses. There are ways to claim money for everything from fuel mileage rates you pay for car travel, to employee travel expenses in the UK and abroad.
Key takeaways
- HMRC publishes benchmark scale rate meal allowances for business travel, with current figures and qualifying journey conditions available on GOV.UK.
- Scale rate payments can simplify travel expense administration, provided employers operate an appropriate checking system in line with HMRC rules.
- Overseas meal allowance rates are published in local currencies for specific destinations, using tiers for trips over 5 hours, over 10 hours, and 24-hour periods.
- Businesses with higher travel costs can apply to HMRC for bespoke scale rates based on a representative sampling exercise of actual employee spending.
Unfortunately, the processes involved are usually somewhat tricky. Luckily, HMRC has simplified the claim process for business travel expenses with different per diem rates for employees.
They allow employers to offer employees a set rate of money per day for business travel. This includes meal allowance rates and a general subsistence allowance for accommodation and other expenses.
The per diem allowance system can save time and money, and generally makes the expense process easier for everyone. Under qualifying HMRC scale rate rules, employers can provide these expense allowances, subject to official guidelines.
One of the most popular and widely used per diem expense allowances is the HMRC meal allowance. It covers food and drink costs for travel, both in the UK and overseas.
In this guide, we’ll explain how the HMRC meal allowance system works, and how it can benefit your business. We’ll also outline some special cases, like custom rates, which can be a useful way for you to save even more money on business travel.
What is the HMRC meal allowance?
First, let’s clear up the confusion about the different names given to the various travel expense allowances offered by HMRC.
The HMRC meal allowance rates are a type of per diem allowance, i.e. an amount that is calculated on a ‘per day’ basis.
The per diem system is usually used to cover subsistence expenses, i.e. expenses related to work-related travel, or time that an employee has to spend away from their normal workplace while working.
HMRC meal allowance sits within the wider bracket of subsistence expenses. Specifically, meal allowances relate to food and drink purchases made while travelling for work; consult GOV.UK for full details on allowable travel and subsistence categories.
The other term often associated with business travel expenses is scale rate payments. This is the system HMRC uses to determine the amount of money employees are entitled to. It’s based upon the amount of time the employee has to spend away from work, as well as the location of travel.
Why are subsistence rates beneficial for businesses?
Subsistence rates are beneficial for businesses because they simplify the process of giving employees money for work-related expenses. HMRC allows businesses to claim a set rate for a range of expenses, without having to keep receipts for every item they have bought.
How do HMRC meal allowance rates work?
As we mentioned above, benchmark HMRC meal allowance rates are calculated based upon a few different criteria:
- The minimum journey time
- The location of the business trip
The exact amount a business can give to their employee for meal expenses varies depending on these two different factors.
HMRC outlines specific qualifying rules and conditions that govern subsistence payments. To ensure claims qualify for tax relief, employers should consult official HMRC guidance on allowable journey criteria.
Remember, it’s up to each company what they offer their employees for their business expenses. This can include higher rates for more senior employees.
Where allowances exceed or differ from benchmark scale rates, specific PAYE tax and National Insurance rules apply. Employers and employees should review HMRC guidance to confirm the tax treatment of expense reimbursements and any spending variances.
Custom meal allowance rates
The benchmark meal allowance rates are offered to all businesses by default. However you do have the option to negotiate a custom meal allowance rate directly with HMRC.
This can help businesses which face higher average costs for business travel. But to get a custom rate you have to prove to HMRC that this is the case, and provide supporting evidence. To do this, you’ll need to submit an exemption form to HMRC.
HMRC meal allowance rates for 2026/2027
HMRC sets different rates for business meal expenses depending on where you’re travelling. For foreign trips, the meal allowance rates account for the local cost of living.
For travel within the UK, HMRC establishes benchmark scale rate allowances based on the duration of qualifying travel.
Domestic trips
For the 2026/27 tax year, HMRC sets benchmark meal allowance rates for qualifying travel based on journey duration, including tiers for daytime travel and late evening journeys. Because current statutory figures are subject to official confirmation, employers should verify the latest published rates directly on GOV.UK.
Foreign trips
The meal allowance rates for overseas travel are more complex, as they are calculated in local currency. Rather than using domestic tiers, HMRC overseas scale rates provide day rates for trips over 5 hours and over 10 hours, alongside a 24-hour rate.
The meal allowance rates offered by HMRC are included in a general table of subsistence expenses. This includes rates for accommodation and travel to the accommodation, etc., as you can see in the example below.
Image: HMRC
These subsistence rates are published for a long list of major cities for business around the world. But what happens if you're staying somewhere that’s not on the list? HMRC’s official guidance is to use the rates for the city that is closest to where you’re staying on your trip, as long as it’s in the same country.
Below you can see some examples of HMRC benchmark rates for international destinations; for all other locations, refer to the official tables on GOV.UK.
City | Over 5 hours | Over 10 hours | 24-hour rate (plus room rate) |
|---|---|---|---|
Rio de Janeiro | 102.50 | 242.50 | 268.50 |
Vienna | 33 | 84 | 89.50 |
General rules for claiming meal allowance
When managing meal allowance claims, employers must ensure that expense procedures align with HMRC compliance standards. Employers should consult official guidance on checking systems and travel verification to confirm record-keeping requirements. Nevertheless, it’s still a good habit to collect employee expense records for auditing purposes.
Managing expenses with Moss
With unlimited virtual credit cards, our customers can allocate individual budgets to each team, team member, or cost centre in their organisation. If you provide work mobile phones to each of your employees, you can set up a specific card just for contract payments, and track every penny you spend with Moss budget trackers. There’s no need to hunt down individual meal payments in a sea of transactions records, because they’re all stored in one place.
If you want to reimburse your employees for other expenses they’ve paid, you can use Moss’s reimbursement tools to slash admin time and automate much of the process via our app. Employees simply scan their receipts with their smartphone, and your team admin will receive an automated approval request, which they can review on the go.
Moss also integrates with a range of other enterprise tools, including accounting and HR software, so you can enjoy the benefits of smart spend management across your business.