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GSA per diem rates for FY2027

From October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027, the standard rate for the continental US is $113 a night for lodging and $68 a day for meals and incidentals. About 295 destinations have higher rates of their own.

Guests checking in at a hotel reception

Standard GSA rate for FY2027

$181 a day

  • Lodging, per night$113
  • Meals and incidentals, per day$68

GSA per diem calculator

Rate table

Trip

Meals claimed

Uncheck any meal that was provided, for example by a conference, an airline or a host.

Incidentals: $5.00

Paid for every day in travel status, whichever meals are claimed.

Lodging

Estimated allowance

Estimated total

$396.00

Meal allowance per full day$68.00
Full days1
First and last day at 75%2
Meals and incidentals$170.00
Lodging$226.00

How to apply GSA per diem rates

Lodging and meals are two separate limits, and they're applied differently.

  1. Find the destination's rate

    Look the city or ZIP code up on GSA's per diem tool. Anywhere without its own rate uses the standard CONUS rate: $113 for lodging and $68 for meals and incidentals.

  2. Reimburse lodging up to the cap

    Lodging is paid at the actual cost up to the nightly rate. Hotel taxes are not part of the cap and are reimbursed separately.

  3. Pay meals and incidentals per day

    The M&IE rate is a flat daily amount. On the first and last day of travel it's 75%: $51 at the $68 rate.

  4. Take out meals that were provided

    If a conference or a client paid for a meal, deduct that meal's amount from the breakdown below. Incidentals are still paid.

Standard CONUS rate by fiscal year

Fiscal yearLodgingM&IEDaily maximum
FY2027$113$68$181
FY2026$110$68$178

M&IE breakdown, continental US

Each M&IE rate split into meals and incidentals, as GSA publishes it. The standard rate is $68.

M&IE rateBreakfastLunchDinnerIncidentalsFirst and last day (75%)
$68$16$19$28$5$51
$74$18$20$31$5$55.50
$80$20$22$33$5$60
$86$22$23$36$5$64.50
$92$23$26$38$5$69

GSA per diem rates by city

FY2027 lodging by season, M&IE and the IRS high-low status for the cities people look up most. Every other locality is on GSA's own lookup.

Is per diem taxable?

Not up to the federal rate, when it is paid under an accountable plan. Rev. Proc. 2019-48 treats a per diem at or below the federal rate for the place of travel as substantiated, as long as the employee records the dates, the place and the business purpose of the trip. That part stays off the W-2 and nothing is withheld, and the employee doesn't have to keep meal receipts for it.

Anything above the federal rate is wages. Pay $250 a day for a trip where the federal rate is $205, and $45 a day goes on the W-2 with withholding unless the employee returns it. A per diem paid with no record of the trip at all is wages in full.

Private employers don't have to use GSA rates. They matter for tax because they set how much a per diem can pay before part of it becomes taxable.

The IRS high-low method

Looking up the GSA rate for each destination is the precise way. The IRS also allows a shortcut. Under the high-low method in Notice 2026-60, from October 1, 2026 an employer can pay up to $329 a day for travel to a high-cost locality and $230 a day anywhere else in the continental US, lodging and meals included. Of those amounts, $86 and $74 count as meals.

High-cost localities are the places with a federal per diem of $280 or more, some of them only for part of the year. Washington, DC, New York City, Boston, San Francisco and Seattle are on the list all year. Chicago and Denver are on it only in their busy months. Each city page above shows that city's status.

For meals and incidentals only, the same notice sets $86 and $74 a day, and $5 a day for incidental expenses alone.

Frequently asked questions

$181 a day for destinations without their own rate: $113 for lodging and $68 for meals and incidental expenses. It applies from October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027. In FY2026 the standard rate was $178, with $110 for lodging.

Once a year, at the start of the federal fiscal year on October 1. GSA usually publishes the new rates in August or September.

Fees and tips to porters, baggage carriers and hotel staff. The $5 incidentals amount in each M&IE rate covers them. They aren't claimed separately.

No. The lodging rate is the cap on the room itself, and hotel taxes are reimbursed separately on top of it.

No. GSA rates bind federal travellers, and private employers set their own. Many use them as a benchmark because a per diem at or below the federal rate is easy to defend when it's reviewed.

Those are outside the continental US and aren't set by GSA. The Department of Defense publishes the rates for Alaska, Hawaii and US territories, and the State Department publishes foreign rates.

Not up to the federal per diem rate, when the employee records the dates, place and business purpose of the trip under an accountable plan. Any amount above the federal rate is taxable wages.

Where these numbers come from

Rates are from GSA's per diem pages and the FY2027 notice in the Federal Register.

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Travel claims coded before you're home

Smartbills keeps the per diem, the bookings and the card charges from a trip together. The claim is already coded by the time the traveller gets back.

See expense management