SPESENFUCHS
Additional meal expenses 2025
As a general rule, employees traveling on business or official business are entitled to benefits to cover the cost of meals. Lump sums for additional meal expenses are commonly referred to as travel allowances. They are used to offset the cost of meals on business trips. This is why they are also called “additional meal expenses”. Since the costs of meals incurred are generally higher than for meals at home, the flat rates are adjusted to the cost of living in the respective destination country.
The per diem rate for meals when traveling in Germany will not change in 2025 . The same rate will apply as in previous years:
- For trips between 8 and 24 hours and on the day of arrival and departure of multi-day trips, 14 euros may be charged.
- From a 24-hour stay, 28 euros can be charged.
From January 1, 2025 , various flat rates for travel expenses abroad will increase.
The flat rates for all countries can be found in the letter from the Federal Ministry of Finance on the “Tax treatment of travel expenses and travel expense allowances for business and work-related trips abroad from January 1, 2025″.
Non-cash remuneration values 2025
The monthly value for meals will be increased to 333 euros from January 1, 2025. Thus, for meals provided at a reduced price or free of charge
- for one breakfast 2,30 Euro
- for one lunch 4,40 Euro
- for one dinner 4,40 Euro
per calendar day. The total value per day for meals is therefore 11.10 euros.
Mileage allowance
In 2025, EUR 0.30 per kilometer driven can still be reimbursed tax-free or deducted as income-related expenses in the tax return. See also: Difference between commuting allowance and mileage allowance