Per Diem for Truck Drivers in the EU: How to Claim It Properly

Per diem payments can put hundreds of extra euros in your pocket each month — tax-free in most EU countries. But the rules vary wildly depending on where your employer is based, where you drive, and how your contract is structured. Get it wrong, and you either leave money on the table or face tax problems down the road. Here’s how to claim what you’re entitled to without the headaches.

What Per Diem Actually Means for Truck Drivers

Per diem (Latin for “per day”) is a daily allowance meant to cover meals and incidental expenses when you’re away from home for work. It’s not salary. It’s compensation for the extra costs you face because you can’t eat at home or sleep in your own bed.

For long-haul drivers crossing borders every week, this distinction matters. Most EU countries don’t tax per diem payments — or tax them at reduced rates — as long as they stay within official limits. Your employer can pay you a flat daily amount without either of you paying income tax or social contributions on it.

The catch? Every country sets its own rules. A Polish company, a Dutch company, and a Spanish company will each calculate your per diem differently, even if you’re running the exact same routes.

Per Diem Rates by Country: What You’re Actually Entitled To

Your entitlement depends on where your employer is registered, not where you drive. Here are the 2024/2025 rates for some of the countries with the most international truck drivers:

These are tax-free maximums. Your employer can pay less — many do. They can also pay more, but the amount above the threshold gets taxed like regular income.

One thing that trips up a lot of drivers: the Mobility Package rules changed how posted workers get paid. If you’re doing cabotage operations or cross-trade transport, you might be entitled to the host country’s minimum wage AND per diem. Your employer can sometimes offset part of the minimum wage with per diem payments, but they can’t use it to bring your total below what you’d earn locally.

How to Calculate Your Per Diem Correctly

Tracking per diem gets complicated fast when you’re crossing multiple borders in a single trip. Here’s how most tax authorities expect it to work:

1. Start counting when you leave your home base (depot, registered address, or wherever your employer designates as your starting point).
2. For multi-day trips, each calendar day usually counts at the rate of whichever country you’re in at midnight — though some countries use the “majority of hours” rule instead.
3. Partial days (typically 8-12 hours or 12-24 hours) qualify for reduced rates in most systems.
4. Your return day often counts as a partial day, not a full one.

Your tachograph records are gold here. The timestamps prove exactly when you started and stopped work. If you’re not already keeping clean digital records, the upcoming tachograph requirements will make this easier — and mandatory.

Keep every fuel receipt, parking ticket, and toll record. Not because you need them for per diem itself, but because they corroborate your location claims if anyone ever asks questions.

What Counts as “Away From Home”?

This is where disputes happen. Tax authorities define “home” differently:

• Germany considers your regular workplace (Betriebsstätte) as the reference point, which for drivers is usually the depot where you start and end routes.
• Poland typically uses your registered residence address, which can mean higher international per diem rates if your depot is far from home.
• The Netherlands focuses on whether you could reasonably have eaten at home — if you’re gone less than 4 hours, forget about claiming anything.

Sleeping in your cab counts as being away from home. The 2020 EU ruling that banned regular weekly rest in the vehicle doesn’t change the per diem calculation — it just means you need to find actual accommodation every few weeks, which might actually increase your expenses.

Common Mistakes That Cost Drivers Money

After talking to dozens of drivers and fleet accountants, these errors come up again and again:

• Assuming your employer automatically pays the maximum — they’re only required to pay what’s in your contract, and many contracts specify lower amounts or vague “meal allowances” that don’t match official rates.
• Not claiming for partial days because you think it’s not worth the paperwork — those €14 German half-days add up to €280+ monthly if you’re doing regular back-and-forth routes.
• Mixing up domestic and international rates when your route crosses borders — if you leave Germany for France on Monday morning, that day should be calculated at French international rates, not German domestic.
• Failing to account for waiting time at loading docks — if you’re stuck at a warehouse in Belgium for 14 hours waiting for your slot, that’s Belgium per diem time, fully documented in your driving hours records.
• Accepting “all-inclusive” pay packages without doing the math — some employers roll per diem into gross salary, which sounds simpler but means you’re paying tax on what should be tax-free money.

How to Negotiate Better Per Diem Terms

Your leverage here is simple: drivers are scarce, and employers who don’t offer competitive per diem packages lose people to companies who do.

Before your next contract discussion, do this:

• Calculate exactly how many days per month you spend away from home and in which countries — be specific, because “mostly Germany and Benelux” means different amounts than “mostly France and Spain.”
• Look up the official maximum rates for your employer’s country and compare them to what you’re actually receiving line by line.
• Ask how per diem is reported on your pay slip — if it’s lumped into “salary” or “bonuses,” you’re probably being taxed on it unnecessarily.
• Request separate per diem and accommodation allowances if your employer currently combines them, since some countries treat these differently for tax purposes.

Good employers will show you exactly how they calculate your per diem and provide monthly breakdowns by country. If yours can’t or won’t explain the math, that’s a red flag worth exploring before it becomes a tax office problem.

Documentation You Need to Keep

Nobody wants to hear “keep good records,” but here’s specifically what protects you:

• Monthly route summaries showing dates, departure/arrival locations, and countries transited — most fleet management apps can generate these automatically.
• Tachograph data downloads, which you should be keeping anyway, that prove your location and timing.
• Pay slips that itemize per diem separately from base salary, overtime, and other payments.
• Your employment contract’s specific per diem clauses, including any amendments.
• Receipts for any expenses above the per diem amount, in case you need to claim additional deductions.

Store digital copies somewhere you control, not just on your employer’s systems. A driver I know discovered his company had been underpaying per diem for two years — but he couldn’t prove it because the only records were on their server, and they’d “lost” the old files. Cloud storage is cheap. Use it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I claim per diem if I sleep in my truck instead of a hotel?

Yes, in most countries sleeping in your cab still qualifies as being away from home for per diem purposes. The 2020 EU ban on taking regular weekly rest in vehicles affects where you must sleep during 45-hour rest periods, but it doesn’t eliminate per diem for nights spent in your cab during shorter rest breaks. You’re still incurring meal expenses and other costs that per diem is designed to cover.

My employer is based in Poland but I only drive in Western Europe — which rates apply?

Polish international per diem rates apply, since your employer’s registered country determines the rules. For a Polish company, that’s currently €60/day for most Western European destinations. However, if you’re doing cabotage or cross-trade work, the posted worker rules might entitle you to additional compensation based on the host country’s standards. Check whether your employer is correctly applying Mobility Package requirements.

Do I need to provide receipts to claim per diem?

For standard per diem within official limits, most countries don’t require meal receipts — that’s the whole point of a flat-rate system. You do need proof that you were actually away from home, which your tachograph data provides. Keep receipts only if you’re claiming expenses above the per diem amount, or if your employer specifically requires them for their internal accounting.

What happens if my employer doesn’t pay per diem at all?

Per diem isn’t automatically mandatory everywhere — it depends on your contract, collective agreements in your sector, and your employer’s country. In Germany, collective agreements for road transport typically require it. In the Netherlands, it’s often negotiable. Check your employment contract first. If per diem is promised there but not paid, that’s a contract breach you can pursue. If it’s not mentioned, you may still be able to claim the expenses on your personal tax return, though this is less advantageous than receiving it tax-free through payroll.

Can per diem be reduced if my employer provides meals or accommodation?

Yes, most countries reduce per diem rates when meals or lodging are provided. Germany, for example, cuts the daily allowance by specific percentages: 20% for breakfast, 40% each for lunch and dinner. If your company pays for a hotel that includes breakfast, your per diem for that day drops accordingly. Make sure these reductions appear correctly on your pay slip — some employers over-deduct, especially when hotel bookings include meals you didn’t actually eat.