How Much Lodging and Meal Cost Can a Reservist Deduct Under the Federal Per Diem Cap?

By SSgt Christian Horton

Page updated: October 16, 2026 · Official guidance last changed: October 1, 2026

If you drive more than 100 miles to reserve duty and spend a night in a hotel, the tax break does not simply refund the bill. The IRS caps lodging and meals at the rates the federal government pays its own travelers. This page explains what the cap is, how it works for lodging and for meals, and which rates apply in a year that straddles two federal fiscal years.

What the cap is

The adjustment for reservist travel is limited to the regular federal per diem rate for lodging and meals and incidental expenses (M&IE), and to the standard mileage rate for car expenses, plus parking fees, ferry fees and tolls. The regular federal per diem rate is the highest amount the federal government will pay its employees for lodging and M&IE, or M&IE only, while they travel away from home in a particular area.

The cap is a ceiling, not an allowance: for a given night the deduction is your actual cost, held to the cap.

Lodging: actual cost, capped

Meals have an optional standard amount. Lodging does not. Publication 463 says there is no optional standard lodging amount similar to the standard meal allowance, and your allowable lodging deduction is your actual cost. For a reservist that actual cost is then held to the lodging part of the federal per diem rate for the place you stayed.

Which place? For per diem amounts, Publication 463 says to use the rate in effect for the locality where you stop for sleep or rest. The test is where you sleep.

Take the fiscal year 2027 standard CONUS lodging rate of $113, which applies to nights from October 1, 2026 (explained below). A $95 room counts as $95, a $140 room counts as $113, and a night with no hotel bill counts as nothing. Under the fiscal year 2026 rate of $110, the same $140 room would count as $110. These are made-up prices to show the lower-of-two rule.

Meals: the standard allowance and the 50 percent limit

For meals you may deduct actual cost or use the standard meal allowance, which is the federal M&IE rate. With either of those methods you can generally deduct only 50 percent of the unreimbursed cost of your meals; the incidentals-only method below is not subject to that limit. The standard allowance is not a free pass on paperwork: you must still keep records proving the time, place and business purpose of your travel.

M&IE includes incidental expenses, which Publication 463 defines as fees and tips given to porters, baggage carriers, hotel staff and staff on ships. If you paid for no meals at all you may use an incidentals-only method of $5 a day. Meals that are lavish or extravagant are not deductible.

The first and last day

On the first and last day of travel, Publication 463 gives two methods: claim three-fourths of the standard meal allowance, or prorate by another method that is consistent and reasonable. Federal employees on travel of 24 hours or more receive 75 percent of the M&IE rate on the first and last day, a rule GSA repeats in its FAQ.

GSA publishes how the $68 M&IE tier divides: breakfast $16, lunch $19, dinner $28 and incidentals $5, with $51.00 for the first and last day. Those parts add to $68 and 75 percent of $68 is $51, which matches.

Putting the pieces together for a two-day weekend at $68 M&IE: both days are first or last days, so the allowance is $51 + $51 = $102.00, and 50 percent of that is $51.00. For a four-day trip with two full days in the middle it is $51 + $68 + $68 + $51 = $238.00, and half is $119.00. The trips are made up, the arithmetic is not.

Which rates apply: FY2026, FY2027 and the 2026 split

GSA sets per diem rates by federal fiscal year: its FY2026 file is effective October 1, 2025 and its FY2027 file October 1, 2026, so a single calendar-year return can use two sets of rates. For most of the continental United States, GSA’s standard rate is the one that applies. These are the standard CONUS figures from GSA’s own files and highlights:

Fiscal year	Lodging	M&IE	Total	Dates
FY2024	$107	$59	$166	as published for FY2024
FY2025	$110	$68	$178	as published for FY2025
FY2026	$110	$68	$178 (computed)	effective October 1, 2025
FY2027	$113	$68	$181	October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027

The FY2026 standard lodging rate was $110; for FY2027 it is $113, and GSA left the M&IE tiers alone; GSA says they were last revised in FY 2025 and are scheduled for review in FY 2028.

Reading the effective dates above, for a 2026 return a night before October 1 is capped at $110 (standard rate) and a night from October 1, 2026 at $113. M&IE is $68 in both years at the standard rate, so the meal figures do not change at the boundary. Our worked example includes a trip that crosses the line.

GSA says the FY2027 rates are not the default in its lookup tool until October 1, 2026, so when you look up a trip, check that the tool is set to the fiscal year of the trip.

Looking up your own location

The standard rate is the starting point but not always the answer. A standard rate applies to most of the continental United States, and individual rates apply to about 300 non-standard areas. GSA says the standard rate covers approximately 85 percent of counties in CONUS. If you stayed in one of the non-standard areas, look up that area’s rate; Publication 463 says to use the rate for the locality where you sleep.

We deliberately do not list city rates here. The lookup is on the GSA per diem site: set the fiscal year in the drop-down box and look up the place where you slept. The M&IE tiers run from $68 to $92, so a higher-cost location can allow a higher meal figure too.

Anything not covered by these sources is outside this page. The IRS publications we reviewed do not tell us what your orders or unit normally pay for, so ask your unit what was reimbursed. Reimbursed amounts are not deductible a second time, which is covered in the worked example.

Sources

Related guides

By SSgt Christian Horton

Air National Guard member who drives 100+ miles to drill.

Views are my own and do not represent the Department of Defense or the Air National Guard.

General information, not tax advice. Per diem rates are set by federal fiscal year, so look up your own location on the GSA site and read the current IRS instructions before you file.

Estimate your deduction →