2019 federal per diem rates under the high-low substantiation method

Tax News Update Email this document Print this document

September 27, 2018
2018-1911

In Notice 2018-77, the IRS released the per diem reimbursement rates that will apply effective October 1, 2018 (or, optionally, January 1, 2019). The per diem reimbursement rate for high-cost areas increases from $284 to $287 and from $191 to $195 for low-cost areas. There were also a number of changes to the areas that qualify as high cost.

Description	High-cost area	Low-cost area
Lodging, meals and incidentals	$287 (was $284)	$195 (was $191)
Lodging only	$216 (no change)	$135 (was $134)
Meals and incidentals only	$71 (was $68)	$60 (was $57)
Incidental expenses only	$5 (no change)	$5 (no change)

The special M&IE rates for taxpayers in the transportation industry are increased from $63 to $66 for any locality of travel in the continental United States (CONUS) and from $68 to $71 for any locality of travel outside the continental United States (OCONUS). (See Revenue Procedure 2011-47.)

Note that transportation between places of lodging or business and places where meals are taken,

and the mailing cost of filing travel vouchers and paying employer-sponsored charge card billings, are no longer included in incidental expenses.

The per diem rates for each locality of travel in the Continental United States (CONUS) can be found at www.gsa.gov. Per diem rates for travel outside of the Continental United States (OCONUS) are available on the U.S. Department of Defense website. Foreign per diem rates can be found on the U.S. Department of State website. (Note that the Department of Defense has not updated its security settings on the web page so you will have to click on "trust this site."

High-cost localities of travel under the high-low substantiation method (effective October 1, 2018)

Key		County/other defined location
Arizona
Sedona		City Limits of Sedona
California
Los Angeles (Oct.1-Oct.31 and Jan. 1-Sept.30)		Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Edwards AFB less the city of Santa Monica
Monterey (July 1 — Aug. 31)		Monterey
Napa (Oct. 1 — Oct. 31 and May. 1 — Sept.30)		Napa
Oakland		Alameda
San Diego (Jan.1-July 31)		San Diego
San Francisco		San Francisco
San Mateo/Foster City/Belmont		San Mateo
Santa Barbara		Santa Barbara
Santa Monica		City limits of Santa Monica
Sunnyvale/Palo Alto/San Jose		Santa Clara
Colorado
Aspen (Oct. 1-March 31 and June 1-Sept. 30)		Pitkin
Denver/Aurora		Denver, Adams, Arapahoe and Jefferson
Grand Lake (Dec. 1-March 31)		Grand
Silverthorne/Breckenridge (Dec. 1-March 31)		Summit
Telluride		San Miguel
Vail (Dec. 1 -March 31 and July 1-Aug. 31)		Eagle
Delaware
Lewes (July 1-Aug. 31)		Sussex

District of Columbia
Washington, DC		Also the cities of Alexandra, Falls Church and Fairfax and the counties of Arlington and Fairfax in Virginia; the counties of Montgomery and Prince George's in Maryland (see also Maryland and Virginia)
Florida
Boca Raton/Delray Beach/Jupiter (Dec. 1-Apirl 30)		Palm Beach and Hendry
Fort Lauderdale (Jan. 1 — April 30)		Broward
Fort Meyers (Feb. 1- March 31)		Lee
Fort Walton Beach/DeFuniak Springs (June 1 — July 31)		Okaloosa and Walton
Key West		Monroe
Miami (Dec. 1 — March 31)		Miami-Dade
Naples (Feb. 1 — April 30)		Collier
Vero Beach (Dec.1-April 30)		Indian River
Georgia
Jekyll Island/Brunswick (March 1-July 31)		Glynn
Illinois
Chicago (Oct. 1 — Nov. 30 and April 1 — Sept. 30)		Cook and Lake
Maine
Bar Harbor/Rockport (July 1-Aug. 31)		Hancock and Knox
Maryland
Ocean City (July 1 — Aug. 31)		Worcester
Washington, DC, metro area		Montgomery and Prince George's
Massachusetts
Boston/Cambridge (Oct. 1-Nov. 30 and March 1-Sept. 30)		Suffolk, City of Cambridge
Falmouth (July 1 — Aug. 31)		City limits of Falmouth
Hyannis (July 1 — Aug. 31)		Barnstable less the city of Falmouth
Martha's Vineyard (June 1 -Sept. 30)		Dukes
Nantucket (June 1-Sept. 30)		Nantucket
Michigan
Traverse City (July 1 — Aug. 31)		Grand Traverse
Minnesota
Duluth (June 1 — Aug. 31)		St. Louis
New York
Lake Placid (July 1 — Aug. 31)		Essex
New York City		Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond
Oregon
Portland (Oct. 1-Oct. 31 and April 1-Sept. 30)	Multnomah
Seaside (July 1 -Aug. 31)	Clatsop
Pennsylvania
Hershey (June 1-Aug.31)		Hershey
Philadelphia (Oct. 1 — Nov. 30 and April 1 — Sept. 30)		Philadelphia
Rhode Island
Jamestown, Middletown and Newport (June 1-Aug. 31)		Newport
South Carolina
Charleston (Oct. 1-Oct. 31and March 1-Sept. 30)		Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester
Texas
Pecos (Jan. 1-March 31)		Reeves
Utah
Moab (Oct. 1-Oct. 31 and March 1-Sept. 30)		Grand
Park City (Dec. 1 — March 31)		Summit
Virginia
Virginia Beach (June 1 — Aug. 31)		City of Virginia Beach
Wallops Island (July 1-Aug. 31)		Accomack
Washington, DC, metro area		Cities of Alexandria, Fairfax and Falls Church; counties of Arlington and Fairfax
Washington
Seattle		King
Vancouver (Oct.1 to Oct. 31 and April 1-Sept. 30)		Clark, Cowlitz and Skamania
Wyoming
Cody (June 1-Sept. 30)		Park
Jackson/Pinedale (June 1-Aug. 31)		Teton and Sublette

———————————————

Contact Information
For additional information concerning this Alert, please contact:

Workforce Advisory Services - Employment Tax Advisory Services
• Kenneth Hausser (kenneth.hausser@ey.com)
• Debera Salam (debera.salam@ey.com)
• Debbie Spyker (deborah.spyker@ey.com)

———————————————
ATTACHMENT

EY Payroll News Flash