Per Diem Tax Calculator
See which part of your travel per diem is tax-free and which part becomes taxable W-2 wages, plus the federal, FICA, and state tax on the excess.
Per Diem Tax Calculator
Per Diem Paid Per Day
Federal (GSA) Rate
GSA rates effective Oct 1, 2025 – Sep 30, 2026. Look up your city on gsa.gov and type the rate above if it is a non-standard area.
Travel Days
Reimbursement Plan
An accountable plan needs a business connection, an expense report within 60 days, and any excess advance returned within 120 days.
Other Annual Wages
Used for the Social Security wage base and the Additional Medicare threshold.
Filing Status
State
Estimates only. Not tax or legal advice. Per diem rates change every October 1. Consult a tax professional for your own situation.
Non-Accountable Plan: All of It Is Wages
Under a non-accountable arrangement the entire per diem, not just the amount above the federal rate, goes into Box 1, Box 3, and Box 5 of your W-2. The usual triggers are a missed 60-day expense report or an excess advance you did not return within 120 days. If you are paid as a non-employee, the same amounts show up on a 1099-NEC instead, and you settle the tax yourself.
W-2 Reporting and Per-Day View
Notes
- Withholding is not the same as your final tax bill. Any over- or under-withholding is settled when you file your return.
Check the Whole Paycheck
Pay44 handles per diem add-backs, bonuses, deductions, and taxes for all 50 states, so payday never surprises you. Get the app.
When per diem is tax-free, and when it isn't
Per diem is not a special category of untaxed money. It is a reimbursement, and reimbursements stay off your W-2 only when they clear three tests. Run your own pay stub against this checklist:
- The rate is at or below the federal rate for the location. That is the GSA rate for the city you traveled to, or one of the IRS shortcuts (high-low, transportation industry).
- Your employer runs an accountable plan. Business connection, expense report within 60 days, excess advances returned within 120 days.
- You substantiated the trip. Time, place, and business purpose. Under a per diem arrangement you do not need meal receipts, but you still need the record of where you were and why.
There are only two ways this goes wrong, and they cost very different amounts. Overpayment is the mild case: your employer pays $95 a day against a $68 federal rate, so $27 a day becomes wages and the other $68 stays clean. Plan failure is the expensive case: miss the 60-day report and the whole $95 a day is wages, including the part that would have been tax-free.
The tax-free half never appears in Box 1. It shows up in Box 12 with code L, which is there for information only. The taxable half is folded into Boxes 1, 3, and 5 before you ever see the form, which is why the numbers on your W-2 rarely match what you thought you earned. The W-2 Box 1 Reconciliation Calculator walks the whole gap.
How the taxable excess is withheld
The excess is supplemental wages under Treasury Regulation 1.62-2(h) and IRS Publication 15, Section 7. That means your employer withholds federal income tax at the flat supplemental rate of 22% (37% on anything above $1 million of supplemental pay in a year), plus Social Security at 6.2% up to the $184,500 wage base, plus Medicare at 1.45% with an extra 0.9% once your wages pass $200,000 single or $250,000 married filing jointly, plus whatever your state takes.
Stack those up and roughly 30 cents of every excess dollar can disappear before it reaches your account. That is why a $27-a-day overpayment feels closer to $19. It also explains a common complaint from travel nurses and drivers: the stipend looked generous in the offer, then the pay stub landed.
Two things worth being clear about. First, withholding is not your final tax bill. The excess is ordinary income on your return, and if 22% was too much for your bracket, the difference comes back as a refund. Second, per diem excess does not qualify for the OBBB tips deduction or the overtime deduction. Those are narrow carve-outs for qualified tips and qualified overtime premiums, and a travel allowance is neither. For a deeper look at how the supplemental rate behaves, see the Bonus Tax Calculator, or the Tip Income Tax Calculator if tips are also part of your pay.
2026 federal per diem rates and the first/last-day rule
Federal per diem runs on a fiscal year, October 1 through September 30. For fiscal year 2026, the standard CONUS rate is $178 a day: $110 for lodging and $68 for meals and incidentals. Roughly 300 higher-cost cities and counties are non-standard areas with their own lodging rates, and M&IE tiers run above the $68 floor. Look your destination up on gsa.gov before assuming the standard rate applies.
| FY2026 rate | Lodging | M&IE | Total per day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard CONUS | $110 | $68 | $178 |
| High-low: high-cost locality | $233 | $86 | $319 |
| High-low: other CONUS | $151 | $74 | $225 |
| Transportation industry (CONUS) | n/a | $80 | $80 |
The high-low method is an IRS shortcut (Notice 2025-54) for employers who do not want to look up every city. The transportation-industry rate is for workers subject to Department of Transportation hours-of-service rules, which covers most long-haul drivers and flight crew.
On the first and last day of a trip you are not away for the full day, so only 75% of the M&IE rate is allowed: $51 instead of $68 at the standard rate. The haircut applies to meals and incidentals only, never to lodging, which is why this calculator splits the combined presets into their lodging and M&IE parts before prorating. If you type a custom combined rate, the split is unknown, so the tool prorates the whole rate and says so under the result.
Rates change every October 1, so a trip that straddles the fiscal year boundary can use two different ceilings. Mileage is on a different schedule again: see the Mileage Reimbursement Calculator for the driving side of the same accountable-plan framework, and the Employee vs Contractor Calculator if your travel pay arrives on a 1099 instead.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about per diem tax calculator
Is per diem taxable?
Usually not. If your employer pays at or below the federal (GSA) rate for the location, under an accountable plan, and you substantiate the time, place, and business purpose of the trip, the per diem is tax-free and never shows up in Box 1 of your W-2. Two things break that: paying above the federal rate, and failing the accountable-plan rules.
How much of my per diem is taxable if my employer pays more than the federal rate?
Only the excess. If the federal M&IE rate for your city is $68 and you are paid $95, then $68 a day is tax-free and $27 a day is wages. That $27 gets added to Box 1 and is subject to federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare withholding just like regular pay. The federal piece is withheld at the supplemental rate, the same rate explained in the Bonus Tax Calculator.
What is an accountable plan, and what happens if my employer does not have one?
An accountable plan needs three things: a business connection, an expense report within 60 days, and any excess advance returned within 120 days. Miss one and the arrangement is non-accountable, and then the whole per diem, not just the excess, is taxable wages. For a contractor the same money lands on a 1099-NEC instead of a W-2. The Employee vs Contractor Calculator shows what that fork costs.
Where does per diem show up on my W-2?
The tax-free portion appears in Box 12 with code L, which is informational only. The taxable excess is folded into Box 1 (federal wages), Box 3 (Social Security wages), and Box 5 (Medicare wages), so it has already been taxed by the time you see the form. To trace the whole gap between your gross pay and Box 1, use the W-2 Box 1 Reconciliation Calculator.
What are the 2026 federal per diem rates?
For federal fiscal year 2026 (October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026), the standard CONUS rate is $178 a day: $110 lodging plus $68 meals and incidentals. About 300 higher-cost cities have their own rates, so look yours up on gsa.gov. The IRS high-low shortcut for FY2026 is $319 a day for high-cost localities and $225 everywhere else in CONUS.
Why do I only get 75% of the per diem on my first and last travel day?
Because you are not away the whole day. The IRS and the federal travel rules let you claim 75% of the meals and incidentals rate on the first and last day of a trip, which is $51 instead of $68 at the standard rate. The 75% haircut applies to M&IE only, never to lodging.
Do truck drivers and travel nurses get different per diem rules?
The framework is the same, but the numbers differ. Drivers, flight crew, and other transportation workers can use the special M&IE rate of $80 a day for CONUS travel instead of looking up each city. Travel nurses have an extra hurdle: tax-free stipends require a genuine tax home with duplicated living costs. Without one, the stipends are just wages.
Can I still deduct per diem if my employer does not reimburse me?
Not as a W-2 employee. The deduction for unreimbursed employee business expenses was eliminated by the 2017 tax law and made permanent in 2025, so an unreimbursed trip comes out of your pocket. Self-employed travelers are different: they can use the M&IE per diem rate on Schedule C (still subject to the 50% meal limit), but they cannot use a per diem for lodging, which needs actual receipts.