When can I apply to per diem allowances?

Payment of a per diem allowance requires that the special work location—for example, a client’s premises—is more than 15 kilometers from the worker’s primary place of work or home. In addition, the work location must be more than 5 kilometers away from both the primary place of business and the home.

A self-employed person can claim an additional deduction on their tax return for expenses arising from increased living costs. Such expenses may include, for example, higher meal costs due to long working days.

The additional deduction is a calculated deduction, and it does not cover travel or accommodation expenses incurred from the trip. Those are deducted as normal business expenses.

Below are the hour thresholds and amounts according to which daily allowances can be claimed. Eligibility for daily allowances depends on whether the work is carried out outside the usual operating area or whether the trip is considered a temporary business trip.

For the year 2025

• A partial per diem allowance can be claimed when the business trip lasts more than 6 hours.
  The partial daily allowance is 24 euros (2025).
• A full per diem allowance can be claimed when the business trip lasts more than 10 hours.
  The full daily allowance is 53 euros (2025).

Foreign per diem allowance

The foreign per diem allowance is calculated per travel day. A travel day is a 24-hour period from the start of the business trip or from the end of the previous travel day.

If a travel day ends on a ship or airplane, the per diem allowance is determined by the country or region from which the ship or airplane last departed, or the first country it arrives in when leaving Finland.

• More information on daily allowances can be found on the Finnish Tax Administration’s website 
• More information on foreign daily allowances can be found on the Finnish Tax Administration’s website 

We will ask about per diem allowances in the tax return questionnaire, which will open after the turn of the year.