Navy per diem rates for fiscal year 2026 start at $68 per day for meals and incidental expenses across most of the continental United States, rising to as much as $92 per day in roughly 300 higher-cost locations. Lodging is reimbursed separately up to a ceiling that varies by destination. The same Joint Travel Regulations govern every branch of the Department of Defense, so the rules apply whether you’re a sailor on TDY, a Marine, or a DoD civilian on official travel.1Defense Travel Management Office. Joint Travel Regulations
How the Daily Allowance Splits
Your per diem lives in two separate buckets: lodging and M&IE. The caps are independent. Unused lodging money doesn’t roll into your food budget, and unspent meal money doesn’t cover a pricier hotel.
Lodging reimburses your actual hotel cost up to the daily ceiling set for your destination. Come in under the cap and you keep nothing extra — the government pays what you spent, no more.
M&IE covers meals plus a flat $5 per day for incidentals like tips to housekeeping and baggage handlers.2U.S. General Services Administration. MIE Breakdowns That $5 is yours whether or not you tipped anyone. The remaining amount is split among breakfast, lunch, and dinner at rates that scale with the tier.
FY2026 M&IE Tiers
Within the continental United States, M&IE falls into one of five tiers based on the cost of dining at your destination:
- $68 (standard): $16 breakfast, $19 lunch, $28 dinner, $5 incidentals
- $74: $18 breakfast, $20 lunch, $31 dinner, $5 incidentals
- $80: $20 breakfast, $22 lunch, $33 dinner, $5 incidentals
- $86: $22 breakfast, $23 lunch, $36 dinner, $5 incidentals
- $92: $23 breakfast, $26 lunch, $38 dinner, $5 incidentals
Incidentals stay at $5 across every tier.2U.S. General Services Administration. MIE Breakdowns The specific M&IE and lodging rate that applies to your trip depends on the zip code or county of your destination, which you can look up on the GSA per diem site before you go.
The 75 Percent Rule on Travel Days
On the first and last calendar day of a trip, you receive 75 percent of the M&IE rate for your destination, not the full amount.3U.S. General Services Administration. Frequently Asked Questions, Per Diem At the $68 tier, that comes out to $51. The reduction applies based on the calendar day; departure or arrival time doesn’t change it. This is where the voucher math surprises people who expected the full rate for every day gone.
Lodging Taxes Are Reimbursed Separately
Hotel taxes do not count against your lodging cap for travel inside the continental United States. They come back to you as a separate miscellaneous expense on top of the lodging maximum.3U.S. General Services Administration. Frequently Asked Questions, Per Diem Keep the itemized hotel folio so the tax lines are documented cleanly.
Meal Rates When a Dining Facility Is Available
The M&IE rate you actually receive depends on whether a government dining facility is available at your TDY location. This is where sailors most often lose money by assuming they’ll get the locality rate.
Government Meal Rate
When government quarters and three daily meals in a dining facility are both available, you receive the Government Meal Rate instead of the locality M&IE. For 2026, the full GMR is $18.00 per day: $4.50 breakfast, $7.25 lunch, $6.25 dinner.4Defense Travel Management Office. Meal Rates The discount meal rate, which reflects the food cost without the facility operating surcharge, is $13.65.
Proportional Meal Rate
When only one or two meals a day are available at the dining facility, the Proportional Meal Rate applies. The PMR averages the GMR and the locality M&IE, landing between the two.5Defense Travel Management Office. Computing Per Diem When Meals Are Available in a Government Dining Facility Which meals are available drives the calculation, so the PMR can shift day to day if facility hours change.
Locality M&IE Rate
With no dining facility meals available, you get the full locality M&IE rate for your destination.5Defense Travel Management Office. Computing Per Diem When Meals Are Available in a Government Dining Facility That’s one of the five tiers above, and it’s what most travelers receive when sent somewhere without a military installation.
Missed Meals Due to Duty
If a dining facility was technically available but your duty schedule prevented you from eating there, you may be able to claim a higher rate for the missed meals. That requires certification on DD Form 1475, where an approving authority confirms which meals you missed and on which dates.6Executive Services Directorate. DD Form 1475 – Basic Allowance for Subsistence Certification Get the signature during the trip, not after.
PCS Travel Per Diem
Per diem for a Permanent Change of Station move is calculated differently from TDY. Your authorized travel days come from the official distance between duty stations in the Defense Table of Official Distances, divided by 350 miles. If the remainder is 51 miles or more, you get one additional day.7Defense Travel Management Office. PDTATAC Computation Example – M PDT 03 Commercial air, train, or bus travel adds one travel day beyond that.
Dependents traveling with you also receive per diem, but at reduced rates. Family members aged 12 and older generally receive a percentage of the locality per diem rate; children under 12 receive half that amount. Specific percentages depend on the type of travel — a spouse on a house-hunting trip, for example, receives 75 percent of the member’s rate.8Department of Defense. Joint Travel Regulations Check your orders and the JTR for the exact figures that apply to your move.
Who Sets Rates for Your Destination
Three agencies split the work depending on where you’re going.9Defense Travel Management Office. Per Diem The General Services Administration sets rates for the continental United States, covering both the standard rate and the roughly 300 non-standard locations (major cities and resort areas) with higher ceilings.10U.S. General Services Administration. Per Diem Rates GSA typically publishes new fiscal year rates in mid-August, effective October 1.
The Department of Defense sets rates for Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. territories.10U.S. General Services Administration. Per Diem Rates The Department of State handles foreign locations, and many overseas rates include seasonal adjustments, so per diem for the same city can differ by the month of your trip.
Filing the Voucher to Get Paid
You have five working days after a trip ends to submit a travel voucher through the Defense Travel System.11Defense Travel Management Office. DoD Travel Allowance Guidance The primary form is DD Form 1351-2.12Department of Defense. DD Form 1351-2 – Travel Voucher or Subvoucher The voucher needs a detailed itinerary with exact dates and the physical addresses of each TDY location, plus receipts for lodging and any single expense of $75 or more.
If you stayed at a commercial hotel rather than government quarters, you need a certificate of non-availability from your service’s lodging registration process. One exception: if DTS electronically recorded that quarters were unavailable when you booked, you’re excused from separately obtaining the certificate.8Department of Defense. Joint Travel Regulations
DTS routes the claim to your authorizing official electronically. After approval, payment usually arrives within three to five business days.13DVIDS. DTS Frequently Asked Questions Funds are split-disbursed: a portion pays down your Government Travel Charge Card balance, and the rest deposits into your personal account.14Defense Travel System. Create a Voucher – Traveler Instructions Confirm your banking information in DTS is current before you submit, because an outdated account can strand the payment for weeks.
When Per Diem Becomes Taxable
Per diem paid within federal rate limits is not taxable under normal circumstances. If a TDY assignment at a single location is expected to last more than one year, though, the IRS treats it as indefinite rather than temporary, and the payments become taxable from the start of the assignment.15DCPAS. Taxable Long-Term Temporary Duty Assignments Even if orders are later curtailed and you return before 12 months, the payments stay taxable because the original expectation exceeded a year.
Per diem can also become taxable if you receive a flat payment without filing an expense report, or if the amount exceeds the federal rate for your location.16Internal Revenue Service. Per Diem Payments Frequently Asked Questions Neither situation typically applies to routine TDY processed through DTS, but sailors on extended or unusual orders should confirm their tax status with a military tax advisor before filing season.