Breakfast: deduction from per diems

Anyone who is provided with breakfast on a business trip does not receive the full per diem for it. The per diem is reduced by a fixed amount. How high the deduction for breakfast is and when it applies depends on who pays for the breakfast and how it appears on the bill.

How high is the deduction for breakfast?

For a breakfast provided, the per diem is reduced by 20% of the allowance for a full calendar day. In Germany, this is €5.60. This reduction is always the same, no matter how expensive or extensive the breakfast was. It can reduce a day’s allowance to €0 at most.

Deduction for breakfast abroad

On business trips abroad, the same percentage applies, but of the full daily rate of the respective country. If the allowance for a full day there is €50, for example, €10 is deducted for breakfast. The rates per country are in the overview of per diems.

When does breakfast count as provided?

• Hotel bill made out to the employer: if breakfast is included in a hotel bill made out to the employer, it counts as provided by the employer. The per diem is then reduced.
• Breakfast only in the total price: if the hotel only states a total price for accommodation and breakfast, breakfast is deducted first. In Germany, the accommodation costs are reduced by €5.60. More under accommodation costs.
• Breakfast paid privately: if the traveller pays for breakfast privately and is not reimbursed, the full allowance remains.

Actual costs or allowance?

For meals on trips, there is no tax-free reimbursement of actual costs, only the allowances. Even if a breakfast costs significantly more or less, the fixed amount is always deducted in the travel expense report.

Benefit-in-kind value: when no allowance is due

If the employee is not entitled to a per diem, for example because they are not away for more than 8 hours, there is nothing to reduce. A breakfast provided by the employer is then wages and is valued at the official benefit-in-kind value, €2.37 in 2026. The employer can tax this amount at a flat rate of 25%.

Breakfast with business partners

A working breakfast with customers or business partners is entertainment for business reasons. The rules for entertainment expenses apply: 70% is deductible as a business expense, and the entertainment receipt needs the occasion and participants. If an employee on a business trip takes part, their per diem is still reduced.

Breakfast in Spesenfuchs

In Spesenfuchs, you mark on the Days page of the trip which meals were provided. The per diem is then reduced automatically by the right amount, in Germany and abroad. The hotel receipt has a separate field for breakfast so that it appears separately from the room price in the report.

Related terms

• Additional meal expenses
• Meal deduction
• Absence times
• Receipt date
• Expense reports with Spesenfuchs

Legal basis and sources: § 9 EStG, § 8 EStG, BMF letter on travel expenses abroad 2026, LStH 2026, Annex 25 III: travel expenses of employees