Enter the number of days you were travelling for work purposes for the entire day (from 00:00 to 24:00) with at least one overnight stay away from home.

• The absence begins when you leave your home and ends when you return.
• Exception: If you visit your primary workplace beforehand, the absence begins only after leaving this location.
• The reason for the absence (e.g. working hours, traffic jams, waiting times) does not matter.

Meal allowances:

• Germany: 28 Euro per full calendar day
• Abroad: Country-specific flat rates (see BMF letter dated 02.12.2024)

Enter the number of days you were away from home for at least 8 but less than 24 hours for work reasons.

• The absence begins when you leave your home and ends when you return.
• Exception: If you first visit your primary workplace, the absence only counts from when you leave this location.
• The reason for the absence (e.g. working hours, traffic jams, waiting times) does not matter.

Meal allowances:

• Germany: 14 Euro per day
• Abroad: Country-specific flat rates (see BMF letter dated 02.12.2024)

Enter the number of days you were travelling for business reasons for a full 24 hours (from 00:00 to 24:00) with at least one overnight stay away from home.

• The absence begins when you leave your home and ends when you return.
• Exception: If you visit your primary place of work beforehand, the absence only begins after leaving this location.
• The reason for the absence (e.g. working hours, traffic jams, waiting times) does not matter.

Meal allowances:

• Germany: 28 Euro per full calendar day
• Abroad: Country-specific flat rates (see BMF letter dated 02.12.2024)

If you arrive or depart on a day, i.e., during a multi-day business trip, you can claim a flat rate of 14 Euro in Germany – regardless of how long you were actually travelling.

Here, the additional meal expenses for days on which you were travelling for work and arrived or departed are calculated – in other words, the first and last day of a multi-day business trip.

If you received free meals – either directly from your employer or at their instigation (e.g. through third parties) – the meal allowance must be reduced.

Reduction amounts depend on the type of meal:

• Breakfast: 20%
• Lunch: 40%
• Dinner: 40%

These percentages always apply to the 24-hour meal allowance.

For Germany, the full daily allowance is 28 Euro. This results in the following reduction amounts:

• Breakfast: 5,60 Euro
• Lunch: 11,20 Euro
• Dinner: 11,20 Euro

Enter tax-free benefits and reimbursements that you received in 2025 for additional meals expenses and that were not listed on your employment tax statement in line 20 (Steuerfreie Verpflegungszuschüsse).

The tax-free reimbursements will reduce your deductible income-related expenses.

Here, the additional meal allowance is calculated for days on which you were fully (24 hours) absent and had at least one overnight stay as part of your business trip.

If you were away from your home and primary workplace for more than 8 hours in one day for business reasons, you can claim an allowance of 14 Euro in Germany. (For comparison: until 2019, this amount was 12 Euro.)

Here, the additional meal allowance is calculated for days on which you were on a business trip for more than 8 hours but did not stay overnight.

If you are away from your home and primary workplace for a full day – 24 hours – as part of a business trip, you can claim a meal allowance of 28 Euro in Germany.

Sum of meal allowances