Introduction

This publication is for employers who pay a per diem allowance to employees for business travel away from home on or after January 1, 2000, within the continental United States (CONUS). It gives the maximum per diem rate you can use without treating part of the per diem allowance as wages for tax purposes. For a detailed discussion on the tax treatment of a per diem allowance, see chapter 16 of Publication 535, Business Expenses, or Revenue Procedure 2000-9, 2000-2 I.R.B. 1.

High-low method. Table 1, Localities Eligible for $201 ($42 M&IE) Per Diem Amount Under the High-Low Substantiation Method lists the localities that are treated under that method as high cost localities for 2000 or the part of the year shown in column 4. Table 1 is on pages 2 and 3. All other localities within CONUS are eligible for $124 ($34 meals and incidental expenses (M&IE)) per diem under the high-low method.

Regular federal per diem rate method. Table 2, Maximum Federal Per Diem Rates, gives the regular federal per diem rate, including the separate rate for meals and incidental expenses (M&IE) for each locality. Table 2 begins on page 4. The standard rate for all locations within CONUS not specifically listed in Table 2 is $85 ($55 for lodging and $30 for M&IE). A federal agency can ask the General Services Administration to review the per diem rate in a particular locality. The process is described in footnote 4 of the table.

Travel outside CONUS. The federal per diem rates for localities outside CONUS, including Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. possessions, and all foreign localities, are published monthly. You can buy the per diem supplement, Maximum Travel Per Diem Allowances for Foreign Areas, from the U.S. Government Printing Office. Call (202) 512-1800 (not a toll-free number) or write: U.S. Government Printing Office, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7974.

Per diem rates on the internet. You can access the federal per diem rates on the internet.

• The rates for travel within CONUS are at: www.fss.gsa.gov
• The rates for travel outside CONUS are at: www.state.gov or gopher://gopher.state.gov

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