Per Diem Calculator for Truck Drivers
Work out your IRS per diem meal deduction for days away from home — at the special transportation-industry rate of $80 a day (IRS Notice 2026-60, travel from October 1, 2026), with the 80% deduction limit for drivers under DOT hours-of-service rules already applied.
What per diem means for a truck driver
Per diem is the IRS’s flat daily allowance for meals and incidental expenses (M&IE) while traveling away from home for work. Instead of saving every meal receipt, a self-employed driver can use the flat rate: count the days away from your tax home, multiply by the rate, apply the IRS deduction limit, and that is the meal deduction on your return. The IRS accepts the rate amount without receipts (“deemed substantiated”), but you still have to prove the travel happened — hence the day log above. It covers meals and incidentals only — not lodging, fuel, tolls or repairs.
The current IRS rate: $80 a day
Transportation workers do not use the city-by-city per diem tables other business travelers use; the IRS sets one special rate for the whole industry. Under IRS Notice 2026-60 it is $80 per day in the continental United States and $86 per day outside it (Alaska, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico included), for travel on or after October 1, 2026. The same rates applied from October 1, 2025 under Notice 2025-54, so the figure is $80 for all of the 2026 tax year. Rates reset every October 1, not January 1.
Be careful with older pages still quoting $69 a day: that was the October 2023 to September 2025 rate (Notice 2023-68) and it is out of date. A year claimed at $69 instead of $80 leaves roughly $2,500 of deduction on the table.
Why you deduct 80%, not the whole $80
Federal law normally limits meal deductions to 50% of cost. Drivers get a better rule: under the exception for workers subject to the Department of Transportation’s hours-of-service limits — which covers interstate truck drivers — 80% of meal expenses are deductible (IRS Publication 463). A full day at the $80 rate produces a $64 deduction, and a 230-day year produces $14,720 before your other expenses. The calculator applies the percentage for you; the field stays editable in case the law changes.
Full days, partial days and the tax-home rule
The day you leave and the day you get back are partial days. Publication 463 requires you to prorate them; the standard method is 75% of the full rate — $60 instead of $80 in the continental US. Count full and partial days separately, as the calculator does. A day only counts if you are away from your tax home — roughly, the area of your main place of work — substantially longer than an ordinary workday, and you need sleep or rest before returning. A same-day run home is not a per diem day, and drivers with no tax home at all generally cannot take the deduction.
Who can claim it — and who cannot
Owner-operators and self-employed drivers can. Claim it on Schedule C: travel expenses on line 24a and the deductible meals figure — this calculator’s output — on line 24b. It reduces both income tax and self-employment tax. If you use the special rate for one trip, Publication 463 says you must use it for all trips that year.
W-2 company drivers cannot — the point most per diem articles get wrong. Unreimbursed employee expenses are a miscellaneous itemized deduction, and the IRS states that deduction is no longer allowable (the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended it for tax years after 2017). A company driver gains only when the carrier pays per diem under an accountable plan: then part of each paycheck is tax-free per diem pay instead of taxable wages — a pay-structure benefit, not a deduction you file for. Not sure how your business is set up? Our guide to LLC vs sole proprietor for a trucking company covers what each structure can deduct. See also the Form 2290 HVUT tax estimator and the IFTA fuel tax estimator.
Frequently asked questions
How much is per diem for truck drivers in 2026?
$80 per full day in the continental United States and $86 outside it, under IRS Notices 2025-54 and 2026-60. After the 80% deduction limit for drivers under DOT hours-of-service rules, each full day is worth a $64 deduction ($68.80 outside the continental US). Partial days — departure and return days — count at 75%.
Can a company driver claim per diem on taxes?
No. Since 2018, W-2 employee drivers cannot deduct unreimbursed travel or meal expenses on their own federal return — the IRS treats them as a miscellaneous itemized deduction that is no longer allowable. Company drivers benefit only through a carrier per diem pay plan, where part of the paycheck is paid tax-free under an accountable plan.
Do I need receipts to claim per diem?
Not for the meal amounts — the IRS rate is accepted in place of receipts. You do need records proving the travel: a log (paper or ELD) showing the dates you were away, where you stopped, and the business purpose, as Publication 463 chapter 5 sets out. Without the log, the deduction has nothing holding it up.
Does per diem cover lodging and fuel?
No. The rate on this page is meals and incidental expenses only. Lodging (when you actually pay for it), fuel, tolls and repairs are separate expenses with their own rules — the IFTA fuel tax estimator works out fuel tax state by state, and the per-mile profit calculator shows what those costs do to a load’s margin.