UK Benchmark Scale Rates 2026/27: Business Travel and Meals

UK benchmark scale rates are optional employer reimbursement rates for certain qualifying business-travel and subsistence expenses. They can reduce the need to check every individual meal receipt, but they do not create a general daily allowance for employees and do not make ordinary commuting or private meals tax-free.

For 2026/27, the key distinction is between:

• Benchmark Scale Rates (BSR) for qualifying travel within the UK; and
• Overseas Scale Rates (OSR) for accommodation and subsistence when an employee travels outside the UK.

HMRC's Tax Update 2026 announced a review of both systems. The government said BSR would be reviewed against current travel costs and that it would consider whether OSR could be simplified and brought into closer alignment. That announcement is a review, not a published replacement table or an automatic increase to every rate.

What are benchmark scale rates?

Benchmark scale rates are standard amounts that an employer may use to reimburse certain subsistence costs for qualifying UK business travel. The purpose is administrative: an employer can use a standard rate instead of checking every receipt, provided the employee has actually incurred an allowable expense and the employer follows the applicable checking and record-keeping conditions.

HMRC describes scale rate payments as set amounts for common business expenses such as travel and meals. An employer may use HMRC's benchmark rates, agree a different rate with HMRC based on evidence of typical costs, or reimburse actual vouched expenses.

The choice of a scale rate does not answer the separate question of whether the journey qualifies. The employee must still be travelling in the performance of the duties or to a temporary workplace, and the payment must relate to an allowable expense.

What are Overseas Scale Rates?

Overseas Scale Rates apply to eligible accommodation and subsistence expenses when an employee travels outside the UK for work. HMRC publishes destination-based tables with amounts for accommodation and meals or other subsistence categories.

The employer should use the table entry for the destination and travel circumstances. If the destination is not listed, HMRC says the rate for the closest listed city may be used in the circumstances described by its guidance. The rates are not a free choice between countries, and an employer should not select a more generous location simply because it produces a better allowance.

The overseas system can use different time periods and components, including room rates, meal rates and rates linked to the length of the stay. HMRC's examples explain how a 24-hour rate, over-10-hour rate, over-5-hour rate or individual meal amounts can interact with accommodation paid by the employer.

Do not pay both overlapping methods for the same journey. For example, an employer should not use a complete set of hourly or 24-hour amounts and then add the same meals again as individual meal payments.

Does a scale rate need receipts?

Using a scale rate can reduce the need to inspect every receipt, but it does not remove the need for evidence. HMRC's current scale-rate guidance says that the employee must have actually incurred the business expense. Employers may need to check a sample of receipts and maintain a process that shows the payment is made only when the qualifying conditions are met.

Keep records of:

• the employee and the business purpose of the trip;
• destination, dates and start and end times;
• the temporary workplace or work duty requiring the journey;
• the scale-rate category and amount used;
• whether accommodation or meals were provided by someone else; and
• any receipts, sample checks, approvals and corrections.

A scale rate is not a substitute for a travel record. If the employee did not travel, did not incur the cost or received a meal free of charge, the employer should not pay the amount as an automatic tax-free allowance.

Does the employer report benchmark payments on P11D?

HMRC's scale-rate guidance explains that qualifying payments at or below the relevant agreed or benchmark rate may be exempt from reporting and tax/National Insurance deductions when the conditions are met. Payments that do not satisfy the exemption, including unsupported excess amounts, may need payroll or P11D treatment.

The employer should not describe every cash payment as an exempt scale rate. A round-sum allowance paid regardless of whether an employee travelled or incurred an allowable cost is different from a properly controlled reimbursement. Check the current employer guidance and the payment's actual design before deciding whether it is reportable.

What did HMRC announce in the 2026 review?

The Tax Update 2026 announcement says the government will review and consider uprating BSR against current travel costs. It will also consider whether the OSR system can be simplified and aligned more closely with BSR.

The announcement does not confirm:

• a new universal daily amount for 2026/27;
• a new employee entitlement to claim a scale rate directly;
• a change to the rules for ordinary commuting;
• permission to use an overseas rate for a UK journey; or
• a date on which every employer must change its expense policy.

Until HMRC publishes a confirmed change, employers should use the current official rates, agreed bespoke rates or actual-expense process applicable to the journey. Payroll teams should record the review as a policy watch item rather than changing rates based only on headlines.

Benchmark scale rates versus mileage rates

Scale rates cover subsistence and, for overseas travel, accommodation-related amounts. They are not the same as Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs), which deal with an employee using their own vehicle for qualifying business journeys.

For vehicle claims, use the UK mileage allowance guide. For staff canteen and workplace-food questions, see Workplace Meals Tax UK 2026/27.

A practical employer checklist

Evidence and rate-table controls

For each claim, retain the employee, destination, dates, business purpose, workplace status, travel route and actual expense evidence. Record whether food or accommodation was provided by the employer, client, hotel or event organiser, because an employer should not reimburse the same cost twice. Keep the current BSR or OSR table used, its effective date and any agreed bespoke rate with the approval record.

Overseas claims need destination and time-band evidence, not only a credit-card total. A trip that crosses midnight, includes several countries or combines business and private travel may require an allocation. If the employee returns early or receives a meal, accommodation or transport in kind, update the calculation and retain the reason. A scale rate is an optional simplification, not permission to ignore the underlying expense.

Choose the reimbursement method deliberately

An employer can use benchmark rates, overseas rates, actual vouched expenses or an agreed bespoke scale rate where the relevant HMRC process permits it. Do not combine methods casually for the same journey. The policy should state which method applies, how the employee claims, what evidence is required and how meals or accommodation provided by someone else are deducted. A rate that is convenient for payroll may be inappropriate where the actual expense is materially different or the travel pattern is unusual.

For a bespoke rate, retain the calculation, assumptions, sample expenses, approval and review date. The rate should be tested against the actual employee group and destination rather than copied from a previous employer or a public internet table. If the employer changes the rate, preserve the old version with the periods in which it applied. The 2026 review announcement is not evidence that an employer can increase a payment before HMRC confirms the applicable framework.

At year end, reconcile the expense system to payroll, the general ledger and employee claims. Check that an employee who received a scale payment did not also receive a duplicate meal reimbursement, hotel breakfast adjustment or client-provided subsistence. Review rejected claims, overpayments and recoveries separately. If a payment is taxable, document whether it is processed through payroll, reported on a P11D or dealt with under another rule, and retain the decision with the employee’s expense record.

Employees should report changed circumstances promptly. A permanent workplace, temporary workplace, secondment, private extension to a business trip or free meal can change the tax analysis. Do not assume that an employer’s automated expense approval proves the journey qualifies; the employee and employer should keep the purpose and route evidence needed to support the claim.

Frequently Asked Questions

For a current rate lookup, use HMRC's scale rate payments guidance and overseas expenses tables. This guide describes the published framework and the 2026 review; it does not replace the employer's policy or HMRC's latest table.

Official sources

• HMRC: Scale rate payments
• HMRC: Expenses rates for employees travelling outside the UK
• HMRC: Tax Update 2026 — review of Benchmark and Overseas Scale Rates
• HMRC Employment Income Manual: Benchmark-rate payments
• HMRC: Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027