Civil Service Subsistence Rates 2026: Ireland Guide
Civil service subsistence rates are the tax-free allowances Revenue permits employers to pay staff who travel for work, covering meals and overnight accommodation without needing every receipt. Private-sector employers can use the same rates. The figures below are effective from 29 January 2025 under DPER Circular 04/2025 and are still current in 2026.
These are the subsistence rates Ireland's employers use as the benchmark for a tax-free subsistence allowance in Ireland. In many workplaces the overnight allowance is also called “country money”, and the wider set of civil service rates covers mileage as well as subsistence: see our mileage rates guide. Day Rates
| Period of assignment | Rate |
|---|---|
| Between five and ten hours | €19.25 |
| Ten hours or more | €46.17 |
The assignment must be outside eight kilometres of the employee's home and normal place of work. Revenue's rules on what counts as a normal place of work are here: Normal place of work.
Civil Service Overnight Rates
The overnight allowance covers an overnight assignment of up to 24 hours, plus any period of up to five hours. The assignment must be at least 100 kilometres from the employees home and normal place of work.
Dublin Vouched Accommodation Rate
Under this option, the employer reimburses the actual, receipted cost of accommodation up to €205.53 and adds €46.17 for meals.
Claiming a Day and an Overnight Allowance Together
In the case of an absence of over 29 hours, the employee can claim a day and overnight allowance. This is the rule that lets an employer pay for the extra hours on a long trip, and it is worth building into your policy so the calculation is the same every time.
Long Assignments and Time Limits
- Subsistence at any one location is limited to six months.
- For assignments over 56 nights, the employer must apply to Revenue to confirm that subsistence is still available.
- After the normal and reduced rate periods, the detention rate applies to each of the next 28 nights.
Assignments Outside Ireland
For a single temporary assignment abroad of up to six months, subsistence is set as a percentage of the normal overnight rate: 100% in the first month, 75% in the second and third months, and 50% in the fourth, fifth and sixth months. A long-term assignment of more than six months is treated differently: in the first month the employer can allow the overnight rate, and afterwards it can cover the cost of reasonable accommodation plus 50% of the ten-hour day rate for the location. See Revenue's civil service rates page for the detail.
Worked Examples
Who Can Use These Rates?
The rates are set for the civil service, but private-sector employers can use the same rates to reimburse employee travel expenses tax-free. That is why they are the standard benchmark for per diem policies across Irish businesses.
How Employers Apply These Rates Tax-Free
Provided you reimburse at or below the civil service rate, no tax, USC or PRSI applies, and there is no need for the employee to keep individual receipts for the allowance. Pay above the civil service rate and the excess becomes taxable as additional pay. Subsistence paid to an employee or director must also be reported to Revenue under Enhanced Reporting Requirements, so keep a record of who travelled, when, for how long and why. Staff who drive their own car are reimbursed separately under the civil service mileage rates.
Subsistence vs Per Diem: What Is the Difference?
“Per diem” and “civil service subsistence” describe the same allowance system in Ireland. Subsistence is Revenues term, and per diem is the everyday one. See our guide to per diem allowances for how to set up and run a compliant policy around these rates.
How to Write a Subsistence Policy
- State that allowances follow the current civil service rates and will be updated when Revenue changes them.
- Define the day rule (outside eight kilometres, five or ten hours) and the overnight rule (at least 100 kilometres).
- Say how a trip of over 29 hours is treated, so day and overnight claims are calculated consistently.
- Set out the records required: who travelled, where, when they left and returned, and why.
- Explain that any payment above the civil service rate is taxable.
- Decide who approves trips and how the allowance is paid.
Common Subsistence Mistakes
- Paying above the civil service rate and treating the whole amount as tax-free.
- Applying the overnight rate to a trip that is under 100 kilometres from home and the normal workplace.
- Not keeping records of trip dates and durations, which makes Enhanced Reporting Requirements harder.
- Using out-of-date rates. The current domestic rates date from 29 January 2025, so a policy written before then is out of date.
- Continuing to pay subsistence at one location beyond six months.
Reimbursing Subsistence with CleverCards
Tracking who has claimed what against these rates gets messy quickly once you are managing more than a handful of trips a month. With CleverCards, you can fund a travel expense card for each trip with the exact day or overnight allowance, set a spend limit, and see every payment in one place, instead of chasing receipts and reconciling claims after the event. You can also pair it with Revenue mileage rates for staff who drive their own car. Learn more about CleverCards prepaid cards for businesses. The same platform also handles tax-free staff rewards under the Small Benefit Exemption, so travel and rewards can be managed in one place.
- Work out the allowance from the tables above for the length of the trip.
- Issue a CleverCards expense card and fund it with exactly that amount.
- Set an expiry date that matches the end of the trip.
- The employee spends within the amount, and you keep a digital record of what was paid.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Yes. For an absence of over 29 hours, Revenue allows an employee to claim a day allowance and an overnight allowance together.
Any subsistence paid above the relevant civil service rate is treated as taxable pay, not a tax-free expense.
Yes. The civil service subsistence rates are set for the civil service, but private-sector employers can use the same rates to reimburse employee travel expenses tax-free.
No receipts are needed for the subsistence allowance itself when the allowance is paid at or below the civil service rate. The exception is the Dublin vouched accommodation rate, where the accommodation cost must be vouched with a receipt.
For a day subsistence allowance, the assignment must be outside eight kilometres of the employees home and normal place of work. For an overnight subsistence allowance, the assignment must be at least 100 kilometres away.
Subsistence at any one location is limited to six months. For assignments over 56 nights, the employer must apply to Revenue to confirm that subsistence is still available.
For a short-term assignment abroad of up to six months, subsistence is 100% of the normal overnight ratein the first month, 75% in the second and third months, and 50% from the fourth to the sixth month. Longer assignments have separate rules. See Revenue's civil service rates page.
Yes, when subsistence is paid to an employee or director as an allowance or reimbursement. Since Enhanced Reporting Requirements began, an employer reports those payments to Revenue through payroll, on or before the payment date. Expenses an employer pays directly to a provider, for example through a company card, are not currently in scope.
Yes. An employer can fund a prepaid card, such as a CleverCards expense card, with the day or overnight subsistence allowance for a trip, so the employee spends within the amount and the employer keeps a digital record of what was paid.