What are HMRC’s Overseas Subsistence Rates in 2025?

The only thing better than an all–expenses–paid business trip is an all–expenses–paid business trip overseas.  
 
The food, the hotels, the opportunity to explore—it’s all part of the experience. 
 
If you’re new to overseas subsistence allowance, or you’ve never heard of HMRC’s overseas subsistence rates, you’re in good hands.  
 
We’ll provide you with the rates for 2025, how to use them to reimburse your employees, and some real-world examples.

What is an overseas subsistence allowance?

Overseas subsistence allowance refers to a payment or reimbursement provided to employees who are required to travel and work outside their home country.  
 
This allowance is intended to cover their daily living expenses, such as meals, accommodation, and other incidentals, while they’re on assignment abroad.  
 
The amount typically depends on the location, duration of the stay, and the employer’s travel expense policy or government regulations. 

When can you claim overseas subsistence allowance? 

You can claim overseas subsistence allowance when you’re travelling outside the UK for work purposes and your employer (or company, if you’re the employer) is satisfied that the trip is directly related to your job duties.  

It applies when you’re on official business abroad, like attending meetings, conferences, or completing work-related tasks. 

Every company will have their own guidelines and reimbursement processes, but generally speaking, you can claim overseas subsistence allowance when:  

• Your employer approves the claim: meaning the trip must be pre-authorised by your employer (or company).
• You provide receipts or documentation: meaning you may need to show proof of expenses—such as hotel bills, or meal receipts—to support your claim and make sure it aligns with company policies. 

Are there any exceptions?

Yes, there are some expenses it doesn’t cover.  

The overseas subsistence allowance is specifically designed to cover your accommodation and daily living expenses while you’re in the foreign country. However, it doesn’t include incidental expenses you might have along the way.

For example:

• The cost of a taxi to the airport in the UK. 
• Snacks or drinks you buy at the airport before your flight.  

If you have these kinds of expenses, your employer (or company) may be able to reimburse you separately, but they’re not included in HMRC’s overseas subsistence rates.  

What are HMRC’s overseas subsistence rates? 

Here are HMRC’s overseas subsistence rates for some of the most popular destinations in 2025:  

Australia (Sydney)  

Subsistence type	Rate (AUD)
Over 5 hours	57.50
Over 10 hours	147.50
24-hour rate	195 plus room rate
Room rate	227
Breakfast	38
Lunch	51.50
Dinner	84.50
Other	0
Drinks	11.50
Hotel to office	9.50
Total residual	195

Canada (Montreal)

Subsistence type	Rate (CAD)
Over 5 hours	47
Over 10 hours	119
24-hour rate	156.50 plus room rate
Room rate	223.50
Breakfast	27.50
Lunch	42
Dinner	67
Other	0
Drinks	10
Hotel to office	10
Total residual	156.50

France (Paris)

Subsistence type	Rate (EUR)
Over 5 hours	40
Over 10 hours	86.50
24-hour rate	117 plus room rate
Room rate	199.50
Breakfast	24
Lunch	35.50
Dinner	42
Other	0
Drinks	9
Hotel to office	6.50
Total residual	117

Hong Kong 

Subsistence type	Rate (HKD)
Over 5 hours	292.50
Over 10 hours	761.50
24-hour rate	816.50 plus room rate
Room rate	2,376.50
Breakfast	0
Lunch	253
Dinner	429.50
Other	0
Drinks	79
Hotel to office	55
Total residual	816.50

Singapore

Subsistence type	Rate (SGD)
Over 5 hours	91.50
Over 10 hours	206.50
24-hour rate	218 plus room rate
Room rate	318
Breakfast	0
Lunch	79
Dinner	102.50
Other	0
Drinks	25
Hotel to office	11.50
Total residual	218

United Arab Emirates (Dubai) 

Subsistence type	Rate (AED)
Over 5 hours	161
Over 10 hours	432
24-hour rate	614.50 plus room rate
Room rate	949.50
Breakfast	127
Lunch	139.50
Dinner	250
Other	23.50
Drinks	42.50
Hotel to office	32
Total residual	614.50

United States of America (Los Angeles)

Subsistence type	Rate (USD)
Over 5 hours	28.50
Over 10 hours	72
24-hour rate	93 plus room rate
Room rate	193
Breakfast	12.50
Lunch	24.50
Dinner	40
Other	0
Drinks	7.50
Hotel to office	8.50
Total residual	93

How to use HMRC’s overseas subsistence rates 

When it comes to HMRC’s overseas subsistence rates, you have a couple of options for paying your employees: 

• You can pay the 24-hour rate for each complete period of 24 hours. This period starts when the employee arrives at their destination and ends when they leave. For example, if an employee arrives at the airport and starts their journey at 9am, they would be eligible for the 24-hour rate until 9am the next day, and so on.
• You can pay for the accommodation (room rate) along with individual meal rates and other incurred expenses. 

What if your employee is away for less than 24 hours?

You can still use HMRC’s overseas subsistence rates. You’ll just have to divide the period into smaller segments.  

For example, if the period includes an overnight stay, you can pay the room rate, plus the over-5-hour or over-10-hour rates—depending on how long the employee was away. 

Some real-world examples

Let’s look at a couple examples of how you can use HMRC’s overseas subsistence rates to reimburse your employees’ accommodation and subsistence expenses for travel outside the UK. 

Singapore  

One of your employees (let’s call him Matt) goes on a business trip to Singapore. He stays in a hotel for two nights, on a room only basis (i.e., no meals are included). 

Matt arrives in Singapore at 3pm on Monday and leaves on a 9am flight on Wednesday.  

You may reimburse Matt’s subsistence expenses as follows:  

Period and rates	Amount (SGD)
1 × 24-hour rate (3pm Monday to 3pm Tuesday)	218 plus room rate
10-hour rate (3pm Tuesday to 9am Wednesday)	206.50
Total	424.5

Paris

Someone from your sales team (Sarah), spends a day in Paris for an important meeting. She arrives in Paris at 9am and leaves at 8pm. 

Based on HMRC’s overseas subsistence rates, you can reimburse Sarah’s expenses at the Paris rate of €86.50 (as the trip lasted more than 10 hours). 

If Sarah had left Paris between 2pm and 7pm, your reimbursement would have been limited to the over 5-hour rate: €40. 

Want to keep all your travel expenses in one place? 

Whether you want to track your subsistence allowances in the UK or overseas, Capture Expense will keep everything organised, and in one platform.  

Book a demo today to see how easy it is to submit, track, and manage your expenses—saving you time and keeping you compliant with HMRC’s overseas subsistence rates.