Field help:
Have you incurred any meal expenses in Germany?
You can only claim additional expenses for meals for the same off-site work at a flat rate - for a maximum period of three months:
- 14 Euro each for a one-day off-site work without overnight stay with an absence of more than 8 hours from your home and the first place of work. This also applies if the external professional activity was carried out overnight (i.e. on two calendar days without an overnight stay),
- 14 Euro each for arrival and departure days of an off-site work lasting several days with an overnight stay outside your home,
- 28 Euro for each calendar day on which you were away from your home and your first place of work and were therefore absent from your home for 24 hours.
If a meal was provided to you by your employer or at the employer's initiative by a third party for an off-site work, the income-related expenses deduction is to be reduced on a daily basis for a meal provided:
- breakfast by 5,60 Euro (= 20% of 28 Euro),
- lunch by 11,20 Euro (= 40% of 28 Euro),
- dinner by 11,20 Euro (= 40% of 28 Euro).
The flat-rate meal allowance is reduced to a maximum of 0 Euro per calendar day. If you have paid a fee for a meal provided, this amount reduces the reduction of the meal allowance. Whether a reduction of the flat-rate meal allowance is to be made can usually be found in the travel expense statement (Reisekostenabrechnung) of your employer.
The three-month period does not apply if you typically worked in a vehicle or in an extensive work area due to your job. Tax-free employer benefits reduce the deductible income-related expenses.
Different allowances apply for business trips abroad. If you want to claim additional expenses for meals abroad, you should therefore enter detailed information about your off-site work abroad.
