> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.immodio.app/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.immodio.app/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10103100-reisekosten-unternehmer-verpflegungsmehraufwand.md). # Business travel costs, additional meal expenses Help on the Immodio entry item Travel costs of the entrepreneur, additional subsistence expenses.
You use this category for **additional subsistence expenses to be claimed for tax** on letting-related external activities, where because of your letting activity you are **away from your home or your usual place of activity** for a certain time. {% hint style="warning" %} Travel and overnight costs do **not belong in this category**; they are posted separately to the "[Travel costs of the entrepreneur, travel expenses](/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10102900-reisekosten-unternehmer-fahrtkosten.md)" category. {% endhint %} Typical cases for landlords are, for example, longer journeys: * to a let property further away, * to a handover or hand-back of an apartment, * to an owners' meeting, * to a larger appointment with a tradesman or about a refurbishment, * to a court hearing or a lawyer because of a tenancy, * or to other appointments occasioned directly by your letting activity. What is important: {% hint style="warning" %} Your restaurant or grocery bills actually paid are **not** posted to this category. **Statutory flat-rate amounts** apply to additional subsistence expenses, and they depend in particular on how long you are away. {% endhint %} #### **Which flat rates apply within Germany?** For a letting-related external activity within Germany the following in principle apply: * **absence of up to and including 8 hours** → **€0** * **absence of more than 8 hours without an overnight stay** → **€14** * **the day of arrival on a multi-day trip with an overnight stay** → **€14** * **a full calendar day with 24 hours' absence** → **€28** * **the day of departure on a multi-day trip with an overnight stay** → **€14** For the arrival and departure days of a multi-day trip with an overnight stay away from home, no additional minimum absence of eight hours is required. **Example: a one-day appointment at the let property** You travel in the morning to a let property further away because an extensive handover of an apartment and then an appointment with a tradesman are taking place there. You leave your home at **07:00** and get back at **18:00** The total absence in this case is **11 hours.** Since you were working away from home for **more than eight hours**, you can post **€14 of additional subsistence expenses** for that day to the **"**[**Travel costs of the entrepreneur, additional subsistence expenses**](/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10103100-reisekosten-unternehmer-verpflegungsmehraufwand.md)**"** category. {% hint style="info" %} What you actually spent on breakfast, lunch or drinks is in principle **not** decisive for the amount of this flat rate. {% endhint %} **Example: away for only five hours** You travel to a let property and are away from your home for a total of **5 hours**. **No claimable additional subsistence expense** then arises. The statutory requirement of **more than eight hours' absence** is not met on a one-day trip without an overnight stay. {% hint style="warning" %} Even if you paid, for example, **€18 for a lunch** while away, that €18 may **not** be posted to this category. {% endhint %} **Example: a multi-day trip** Because of an extensive refurbishment you have to travel to a let property further away and stay there for two nights. * **Monday: arrival** → **€14** * **Tuesday: a full day on site** → **€28** * **Wednesday: departure** → **€14** In principle a total of **€14 + €28 + €14 = €56** of additional subsistence expenses can therefore be taken into account. {% hint style="info" %} The travel and overnight costs do **not belong in this category**; they are posted separately to the "[Travel costs of the entrepreneur, travel expenses](/en/anleitung/einnahmen-und-ausgaben/buchhaltung-erweiterung/10102900-reisekosten-unternehmer-fahrtkosten.md)" category. {% endhint %} #### **Do not claim the actual meal invoice in addition** The additional subsistence expense is a **flat rate**. You cannot therefore claim, for example, **€14 of the subsistence flat rate** for the same day and additionally a restaurant bill of, say, **€25** as ordinary subsistence expenditure. The flat rate is intended to settle the additional expenditure on food during the external activity that can be taken into account for tax. Section 9 (4a) EStG expressly provides fixed flat-rate amounts for this. #### **Where a meal is already provided or included in the price of the trip** Where a meal is provided to you during the trip, the subsistence flat rate may have to be reduced. For trips within Germany the reduction is in principle: * **breakfast: €5.60** * **lunch: €11.20** * **dinner: €11.20** That corresponds to 20% and 40% respectively of the €28 flat rate applying to a full day. **Example: a hotel stay with breakfast** You travel the day before because of an owners' meeting and stay overnight in a hotel. For the day of departure you are in principle entitled to a subsistence flat rate of **€14**. The breakfast is, however, already included in the hotel arrangement and has to be taken into account accordingly. The reduction for the breakfast is therefore: **€5.60** and the remaining additional subsistence expense is now: **€14 – €5.60 = €8.40** #### **The three-month rule for a longer activity at the same place** Where you work **at the same external place of activity** not just occasionally but over a longer period, the additional subsistence expense is in principle limited to the **first three months**. Only a break of at least **four weeks** causes the three-month period to start again. That can become relevant above all where you work, say, constantly at the same property for several months because of an extensive refurbishment. #### **Trips abroad have different flat-rate amounts** Where a letting-related trip takes you abroad, the German **€14 and €28** do **not** automatically apply. For trips from **1 January 2026** onwards the current Federal Ministry of Finance table with the respective flat-rate amounts for abroad applies. You can download and view it [**here**](https://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de/Content/DE/Downloads/BMF_Schreiben/Steuerarten/Lohnsteuer/2025-12-05-steuerliche-behandlung-reisekosten-2026.html). #### **Private trips do not belong here** Additional subsistence expenses can only be taken into account as far as the trip is actually **occasioned by your letting activity**. **Example:** You travel to Hamburg for a private weekend outing and take the opportunity to look in briefly at your let apartment there. That does **not** turn the whole weekend trip into a letting-related external activity. Private subsistence costs continue to be part of your private living. #### **Assignment in Immodio** With this category the assignment is to the **owner**. Select the owner who made the letting-related trip concerned. #### **Do not recover from the tenant** A landlord's additional subsistence expenses arise in the course of their own administration, that is of keeping landlord appointments. They are not recoverable operating costs of the let property. The **"Recoverable in the operating cost statement"** switch therefore has to stay **disabled**. **The records should in particular show:** * the date of the trip, * the beginning and end of the absence, * the destination, * the rental property concerned, * the reason for the trip, * where applicable, overnight stays, * and where applicable, meals provided. With additional subsistence expenses in particular, the **duration of the absence** is important because the amount of the permissible flat rate depends on it.