A daily allowance, which is also known as per diem, is the limited amount of money an employee receives from their organisation to cover work-related expenses. Some examples of expenses include transportation or meals while traveling for business.

1. Customisable calculation: Companies can choose to follow our standard allowance calculation, or modify the rules to their unique needs.

2. In-house compliance team: When using the standard allowance template, our compliance team ensures that the rates meet the latest legal requirements for each country. Controllers can sit back and relax, knowing compliance is taken care of.

3. Easy trip entry: Users can enter the departure point, date, and time of travel. For multi-location trips, users can add multiple destinations and trips.

4. Automatic calculation: The daily allowance is automatically calculated based on the entered trip details.

5. Deductions: Companies can set policies for specific deductions from the original allowance. For example, breakfast may be deducted if included in the hotel price.

6. Quick review and reporting: Users can review the total trip calculation with a few clicks. The calculated allowance can be easily added to an expense report for approval.

• Ease of administration: Employees receive daily allowances without submitting detailed expense reports. This simplifies reimbursement and saves time for both employees and controllers.

• Increased cost control: Daily allowances reduce the need for extensive documentation, allowing controllers to maintain better oversight and ensure compliance with company policies.

• Better cost predictability: Finance teams can predict and budget for expenses more accurately with fixed daily allowances, providing financial stability for the organisation.

• Higher employee satisfaction: Daily allowances streamline the reimbursement process and provide transparency, making it convenient and clear for employees to understand their allowances.

Based on the given parameters, a per diem may vary. The rates differ between countries, and even cities. In the case of a per diem for food, the employee will only receive the full allowance if they have paid for all their meals themselves. If not, deductions must be made for the per diem to be compliant. This can happen for example if the meals are included in the cost of the lodging, or if the employee’s meal is paid for in another fashion (e.g. as part of an event, by a customer/supplier, etc.).

Declaree stays aligned with European per diems by using built-in logic and official tax rules for daily allowances (per diems). When you enter a business trip in Declaree, the system can automatically calculate the correct per diem based on the destination and applicable local rules, including deductions (e.g. meals provided) and different rates for domestic vs international travel. These calculations are based on current official per diem tables and can be activated in your Allowances settings if available.

You can find per diem rates and guidelines in a few places:

1. Mobilexpense Compliance Centre
The Compliance Centre provides clear, up-to-date local compliance information for European countries, including:

• VAT rates
• Daily allowances (per diems)
• Mileage allowances
• Electronic archiving and retention requirements
  Simply select the country you want to review.

2. Declaree Help Centre per diem pages
For specific detailed tables by country (e.g., Germany or the Netherlands), the Declaree Help Centre publishes the official 2025 per diem rates that match local tax authority rules and can be applied within the tool.