Meal Per Diem Reimbursement for Domestic Travel

The Illinois Travel Regulation Council establishes the per diem allowance for all state employees traveling within the U.S.  Per diem is a daily travel meal allowance and includes taxes and tips. To be eligible for per diem, University of Illinois System employees must be in travel status on approved business travel that includes an overnight stay. Per IRS guidelines, per diem is not provided for intra-day (same day) travel.

The cost of actual meals purchased while in travel status is not reimbursable and receipts for such meals should not be submitted with the expense report. The current daily allowance is $44.00 for travel within the State of Illinois and $48.00 for travel outside of Illinois.

Chrome River automatically calculates the per diem reimbursement amount based on number of travel days, the time that travel status starts, and the time that travel status ends. The University Travel Card (TCard) may not be used for meal purchases when in travel status, except when hosting an allowable business meal.

Per Diem Deduction for Meals Provided to Traveler

University of Illinois System employees must deduct the following amounts from the per diem allowance when a meal is provided during travel status.

	In-State	Out-of-State
Breakfast	$8.50	$9.50
Lunch	$12.50	$13.50
Dinner	$23.00	$25.00

 

For further information and policy on meal reimbursement while on travel status, see OBFS Policies and Procedures Manual, 15.1 Travel - Travel Reimbursement and Per Diem.

Last Updated: April 5, 2023