What is the trucker per diem rate for 2026?

The IRS special transportation-industry rate is $80 per full day of travel in the continental U.S. ($86 outside CONUS), effective October 1, 2025 under IRS Notice 2025-54. Drivers subject to DOT hours-of-service limits may deduct 80% of that amount. A new notice is typically published each late September.

Can company drivers deduct per diem?

Generally no. Federal law now permanently disallows miscellaneous itemized deductions for unreimbursed employee travel expenses, so W-2 company drivers cannot deduct per diem on their federal return. Some employers offer per diem pay plans instead, and some state returns differ.

How do partial days work for per diem?

For the day you leave and the day you get home, the IRS lets you claim 3/4 of the daily rate ($60 on an $80 day), or prorate by any reasonable method you apply consistently.

Trucker Per Diem Calculator 2026 — $80/Day Rate

Estimate your per diem deduction

Answer two quick questions first — they decide whether the deduction applies to you at all.

1. How are you paid? Owner-operator / self-employed (1099, Schedule C) Company driver (W-2)

2. Were these travel days subject to DOT hours-of-service limits? Yes — I run under HOS rules (80% deductible) No (50% limit applies instead)

3. Method Standard M&IE per diem (meals + incidentals — most drivers) Incidentals only, $5/day (you deduct actual meal costs separately or incur none)

Tax year

Full days away (U.S.) nights on the road, lower 48

Partial days (U.S.) leave + return days

Full days outside CONUS Canada, Alaska, Hawaii runs

Partial days outside CONUS

Before you count on this number: you need a regular tax home (itinerant drivers with no home base generally don't qualify) · the trip must require sleep or rest away from home · keep records of dates, places, and business purpose · you can't also deduct reimbursed amounts. This is a planning estimate, not tax advice — confirm with a tax professional who knows trucking.

Rates: IRS Notice 2025-54 ($80 CONUS / $86 OCONUS / $5 incidentals, effective Oct 1, 2025) · ¾ partial-day method: IRS Pub 463 · 80% DOT limit: IRC §274(n)(3) · Reviewed July 2026

How trucker per diem actually works in 2026

Instead of saving every meal receipt, drivers can use the IRS special transportation-industry rate: a flat daily amount for meals and incidental expenses while traveling away from home. Effective October 1, 2025 that rate is $80 per day in the continental U.S. and $86 outside it (IRS Notice 2025-54).

Two adjustments do the real work. First, on the day you leave and the day you get home you claim ¾ of the rate — $60 instead of $80 (you may instead prorate by any reasonable method applied consistently, per Pub 463). Second, the deduction is limited to 80% of the total for drivers subject to DOT hours-of-service limits — a special carve-out in the tax code; most other workers only get 50%.

Owner-operators vs company drivers

This is where most outdated pages will cost you money or get you in trouble. Owner-operators (Schedule C) claim per diem as a business expense — that's what this calculator estimates. Company drivers lost the federal deduction for unreimbursed travel back in 2018, and the 2025 tax law made that change permanent. If you're W-2, the per diem conversation is about your carrier's pay plan, not your tax return.

The $5 incidentals-only rate

If you incur no meal costs on a travel day (or deduct actual meal receipts instead), there's a separate $5/day incidentals-only rate. It's an either-or with the $80 rate for any given day — never both — and it does not take the 80% haircut, because it isn't a meal expense.

Worked example: an owner-operator under HOS rules with 220 full days and 30 partial days in the lower 48: (220 × $80) + (30 × $60) = $19,400 → × 80% = $15,520 estimated deduction.

Every October the IRS can change the rate. This page carries the notice number and a reviewed date, and we update it when the new notice lands — that's the whole point of this site.