Skip to main content

Travel Allowance 2026-27: ATO Reasonable Amounts

The ATO’s reasonable travel allowance amounts for 2026-27 are in TD 2026/4, issued 24 June 2026. On a salary of $153,210 or less, a day in Sydney is $400.85: $230 accommodation, $145.45 meals and $25.40 incidentals. The overtime meal amount is $40. These aren’t rates your employer must pay: they decide whether tax is withheld from your allowance and whether you need receipts to claim what you spent.

Official ATO ratesUpdated FY2026-27Free foreverNo signup required

Sydney, per day

$400.85

Salary $153,210 or less

Country centres

$298.90

Not in the high-cost list

Overtime meal

$40

Per meal, 2026-27

Salary bands

3

$153,210 and $272,680 cut-offs

ATO Reasonable Travel Allowance Calculator 2026-27

The ATO’s reasonable amounts for accommodation, meals and incidentals from TD 2026/4, for your salary and destination. Enter the allowance you were paid to see how much of it your employer should withhold tax from.

Part-time: use the full-time equivalent.

Per day · Table 1 · salary $153,210 or less

Accommodation (per night)
$230.00
Meals (B $36.00 · L $40.45 · D $69.00)
$145.45
Incidentals
$25.40
Daily total
$400.85

Trip · 3 nights, 4 days

Accommodation
$690.00
Meals (full days, maximum)
$581.80
Incidentals
$101.60
Reasonable amount for the trip
$1,373.40

Meals on the first and last days count only if they fall within the trip, so the trip meal figure is a ceiling. Accommodation amounts apply to hotels, motels and serviced apartments only. Spend more than the reasonable amount and you need receipts for the whole claim, not just the excess.

A woman in a hi-vis vest wheels a suitcase along a country motel veranda, a work ute and water tower behind

Reasonable Travel Allowance by Capital City, 2026-27

Daily totals (accommodation, meals and incidentals) from Tables 1 to 3 of TD 2026/4. Your salary means salary excluding allowances; part-timers use the full-time equivalent.

CitySalary $153,210 or lessSalary $153,211 to $272,680Salary $272,681 or more
Adelaide$328.85$419.50$439.00
Brisbane$358.85$465.50$485.00
Canberra$348.85$454.50$474.00
Darwin$390.85$501.50$521.00
Hobart$346.85$443.50$463.00
Melbourne$345.85$441.50$493.00
Perth$350.85$453.50$493.00
Sydney$400.85$515.50$535.00
Other country centres$298.90$368.55$435.00+

For the top salary band every country centre uses $207 accommodation, or the high-cost figure below if higher. Source: TD 2026/4, read 23 September 2026.

Per day$153,210 or less$153,211 to $272,680$272,681 or more
Breakfast$36.00$39.20$43.65
Lunch$40.45$55.35$61.70
Dinner$69.00$77.65$86.35
Incidentals$25.40$36.30$36.30
Accommodation: Sydney$230$307$307
Accommodation: Melbourne$175$233$265
Accommodation: Brisbane$188$257$257

Capital cities and high-cost country centres. In other country centres the lower bands use $32.25 / $36.80 / $63.45 for meals (salary $153,210 or less) and $141 accommodation.

Meals only count if they fall within your trip: leave at 10 am Monday and return at 3 pm Tuesday and you can use lunch and dinner on Monday and breakfast and lunch on Tuesday. Incidentals apply in full to every day, including part days. The accommodation amount applies only to hotels, motels and serviced apartments, not hostels or caravan parks.

High-Cost Country Centres: Accommodation

117 regional centres have their own accommodation amount (Table 4). Meals and incidentals are the capital-city amounts for your salary band.

Show all 117 centres
  • Albany (WA)$193
  • Albury (NSW)$207
  • Alice Springs (NT)$206
  • Ararat (Vic)$159
  • Armidale (NSW)$166
  • Ayr (Qld)$207
  • Bairnsdale (Vic)$182
  • Ballarat (Vic)$187
  • Bathurst (NSW)$207
  • Bega (NSW)$207
  • Benalla (Vic)$168
  • Bendigo (Vic)$177
  • Bordertown (SA)$165
  • Bourke (NSW)$189
  • Bright (Vic)$180
  • Broken Hill (NSW)$168
  • Broome (WA)$269
  • Bunbury (WA)$184
  • Bundaberg (Qld)$184
  • Burnie (Tas)$181
  • Cairns (Qld)$175
  • Carnarvon (WA)$183
  • Castlemaine (Vic)$162
  • Ceduna (SA)$156
  • Charters Towers (Qld)$168
  • Chinchilla (Qld)$207
  • Christmas Island (WA)$221
  • Cobar (NSW)$207
  • Cocos (Keeling) Islands (WA)$331
  • Coffs Harbour (NSW)$207
  • Colac (Vic)$207
  • Cooma (NSW)$207
  • Cowra (NSW)$207
  • Dalby (Qld)$201
  • Dampier (WA)$210
  • Derby (WA)$192
  • Devonport (Tas)$170
  • Dubbo (NSW)$173
  • Echuca (Vic)$207
  • Emerald (Qld)$182
  • Esperance (WA)$183
  • Exmouth (WA)$247
  • Geelong (Vic)$175
  • Geraldton (WA)$201
  • Gladstone (Qld)$171
  • Gold Coast (Qld)$234
  • Gosford (NSW)$161
  • Goulburn (NSW)$165
  • Grafton (NSW)$179
  • Griffith (NSW)$165
  • Gunnedah (NSW)$186
  • Halls Creek (WA)$215
  • Hamilton (Vic)$170
  • Hervey Bay (Qld)$175
  • Horn Island (Qld)$345
  • Horsham (Vic)$173
  • Innisfail (Qld)$207
  • Inverell (NSW)$207
  • Jabiru (NT)$216
  • Kadina (SA)$207
  • Kalgoorlie (WA)$193
  • Karratha (WA)$304
  • Katherine (NT)$230
  • Kingaroy (Qld)$180
  • Kununurra (WA)$234
  • Launceston (Tas)$174
  • Lismore (NSW)$190
  • Mackay (Qld)$166
  • Maitland (NSW)$187
  • Maryborough (Qld)$207
  • Mildura (Vic)$177
  • Mount Gambier (SA)$164
  • Mount Isa (Qld)$188
  • Mudgee (NSW)$213
  • Muswellbrook (NSW)$166
  • Nambour (Qld)$168
  • Naracoorte (SA)$207
  • Narrabri (NSW)$207
  • Newcastle (NSW)$195
  • Newman (WA)$277
  • Nhulunbuy (NT)$278
  • Norfolk Island (Qld)$256
  • Northam (WA)$232
  • Nowra (NSW)$168
  • Orange (NSW)$222
  • Port Augusta (SA)$207
  • Port Hedland (WA)$281
  • Port Lincoln (SA)$170
  • Port Macquarie (NSW)$190
  • Port Pirie (SA)$207
  • Portland (Vic)$170
  • Queanbeyan (NSW)$207
  • Queenstown (Tas)$207
  • Renmark (SA)$207
  • Rockhampton (Qld)$174
  • Roma (Qld)$188
  • Sale (Vic)$207
  • Seymour (Vic)$171
  • Shepparton (Vic)$172
  • Swan Hill (Vic)$181
  • Tamworth (NSW)$207
  • Taree (NSW)$207
  • Tennant Creek (NT)$207
  • Thursday Island (Qld)$323
  • Toowoomba (Qld)$161
  • Townsville (Qld)$174
  • Tumut (NSW)$207
  • Wagga Wagga (NSW)$178
  • Wangaratta (Vic)$186
  • Warrnambool (Vic)$182
  • Weipa (Qld)$238
  • Whyalla (SA)$170
  • Wilpena-Pound (SA)$281
  • Wodonga (Vic)$207
  • Wollongong (NSW)$188
  • Wonthaggi (Vic)$188
  • Yulara (NT)$570

Overseas Travel: Meals and Incidentals

Overseas there is no reasonable amount for accommodation: it must always be substantiated, and tax is always withheld from an overseas accommodation allowance. Meals and incidentals depend on the country’s cost group. Countries not listed use cost group 3, and on a day in two countries you use the higher group. Away 6 or more nights in a row? Keep travel records such as a diary, even within the reasonable amount.

Cost group$153,210 or less$153,211 to $272,680$272,681 or moreExample countries
1$100$120$150
2$140$165$220Egypt, Nepal, Pakistan, South Africa
3$185$215$275Fiji, India, Indonesia, Vietnam
4$230$260$340New Zealand, Philippines, Thailand
5$275$340$425Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom
6$325$410$475Hong Kong, Singapore, United States of America

Daily meals + incidentals, Tables 6 to 8. 140 countries are listed in Table 9; the calculator above covers them all.

Travel Allowance on Your Payslip: Is Tax Withheld?

Your employer doesn’t withhold tax from a travel allowance, and leaves it out of the allowance box on your income statement, when all four of these hold (ATO):

  1. they expect you to spend all of it on accommodation, food, drink or incidentals;
  2. the amount and what it’s for are shown separately in their records;
  3. it isn’t for overseas accommodation; and
  4. it’s no more than the reasonable amount.

If the first two hold but the allowance is above the reasonable amount, tax is withheld from the excess only, and the whole allowance is reported. The allowance still appears on your payslip either way. An allowance for day trips with no overnight stay is different: it’s added to your gross pay and taxed like wages. See how allowances sit on a payslip in understanding your payslip.

Overtime meals: an award overtime meal allowance up to $40 isn’t withheld from or reported; above it, tax is withheld from the excess.

Travel Allowance in Your Tax Return

If you received an allowance and spent it on deductible travel, you can claim what you actually spent. Claim no more than the reasonable amount and you don’t need receipts, but you must be able to show you travelled for work, received and declared the allowance, how you worked out the amount, and that you weren’t reimbursed. Claim more than the reasonable amount and you must substantiate the whole claim. If the allowance wasn’t on your income statement and you spent all of it, you can leave both the allowance and the deduction out of your return. More: our tax deductions guide.

Truck drivers have separate meal amounts for any domestic trip: $32.25 breakfast, $36.80 lunch and $63.45 dinner, each meal separately (Table 5). Their accommodation and incidentals must always be substantiated.

Related Calculators and Guides

Frequently Asked Questions

Travel allowance questions and answers

What is the ATO travel allowance rate for 2026-27?

The ATO doesn't set a rate employers must pay. It publishes "reasonable amounts" in TD 2026/4. For a salary of $153,210 or less, the daily amount is $400.85 in Sydney ($230 accommodation, $145.45 meals and $25.40 incidentals), and it varies by city and salary band.

Is a travel allowance taxed?

Not up front if it's within the reasonable amount and the employer expects you to spend all of it on accommodation, food, drink or incidentals, records it separately, and it isn't for overseas accommodation. Above the reasonable amount, tax is withheld from the excess. The allowance is still income: if it's shown on your income statement you declare it and claim what you spent.

What is the overtime meal allowance for 2026-27?

The ATO's reasonable amount for an overtime meal in 2026-27 is $40. An award overtime meal allowance up to that amount isn't withheld from and isn't reported on your income statement.

Do I need receipts if I get a travel allowance?

Not if you claim no more than the reasonable amount, you received and declared an allowance for that expense, and the expense is deductible. You still need to show how you worked out the claim, for example with a diary and bank records. Claim more than the reasonable amount and you must keep receipts for the whole claim, not just the excess.

What are per diems in Australia?

A per diem is a daily allowance for meals, incidentals and sometimes accommodation while travelling for work. In Australia it's usually called a travel allowance, and the ATO's reasonable amounts are the benchmark for how it's taxed.

Is travel allowance paid for day trips?

The travel allowance rules and reasonable amounts cover travel away from home overnight. An allowance for part-day travel with no overnight absence is taxed as ordinary income: it's included in your gross payments and tax is withheld.

The ATO doesn't set a rate employers must pay. It publishes "reasonable amounts" in TD 2026/4. For a salary of $153,210 or less, the daily amount is $400.85 in Sydney ($230 accommodation, $145.45 meals and $25.40 incidentals), and it varies by city and salary band.

Not up front if it's within the reasonable amount and the employer expects you to spend all of it on accommodation, food, drink or incidentals, records it separately, and it isn't for overseas accommodation. Above the reasonable amount, tax is withheld from the excess. The allowance is still income: if it's shown on your income statement you declare it and claim what you spent.

The ATO's reasonable amount for an overtime meal in 2026-27 is $40. An award overtime meal allowance up to that amount isn't withheld from and isn't reported on your income statement.

Not if you claim no more than the reasonable amount, you received and declared an allowance for that expense, and the expense is deductible. You still need to show how you worked out the claim, for example with a diary and bank records. Claim more than the reasonable amount and you must keep receipts for the whole claim, not just the excess.

A per diem is a daily allowance for meals, incidentals and sometimes accommodation while travelling for work. In Australia it's usually called a travel allowance, and the ATO's reasonable amounts are the benchmark for how it's taxed.

The travel allowance rules and reasonable amounts cover travel away from home overnight. An allowance for part-day travel with no overnight absence is taxed as ordinary income: it's included in your gross payments and tax is withheld.
How we worked this out▼

Every amount is transcribed from TD 2026/4 (the authorised PDF and the ATO legal database page were compared figure by figure). A trip’s reasonable amount is accommodation × nights plus (meals + incidentals) × days, where days = nights + 1. The meals figure is a maximum, because meals outside the travel period on the first and last day don’t count. The withheld portion is the allowance minus that reasonable amount.

TD 2026/4 applies to the 2026-27 income year only. For 2025-26 returns use TD 2025/4. General information, not tax advice.

Sources & References

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
    Withholding for allowances (QC51680)— Australian Taxation Office

Last verified: 23 September 2026. Our content is based on the latest information from official Australian government sources.

What to check next

People reading this page usually work these out too.