Tutkat
Salary Radar / Guides

Mileage allowance and daily allowances 2026: tax-free travel allowances

The Finnish Tax Administration (Verohallinto) confirms each year how much an employer can pay tax-free for business travel. This guide brings together the 2026 mileage allowances, domestic and foreign daily allowances and the meal allowance, and explains when a reimbursement is tax-free.

Checked 10.10.2026 · Sources at the end of the article

What is tax-free?

The Finnish Tax Administration's decision on tax-free reimbursements of travel costs in 2026 sets the maximum amounts that an employer can pay an employee tax-free. The reimbursement is tax-free when the trip is a business trip and the conditions of the decision are met. The part exceeding the maximum is not a tax-free reimbursement.

A business trip means travel to a specific place of work, for example to a customer or to training. Journeys between the home and the actual workplace are not business trips: according to the Finnish Tax Administration's guidance, compensation paid for them is wholly taxable pay.

The Finnish Tax Administration does not oblige an employer to pay mileage allowance or daily allowance. What is paid is based on the collective agreement, the employment contract or the employer's practice. The employer reports the reimbursements paid to the Incomes Register.

Mileage allowance 2026

When an employee drives a work trip in their own car or a car under their control, the tax-free mileage allowance in 2026 is at most 55 cents per kilometre. The allowance can be increased with the following supplements when the conditions are met:

  • trailer: 9 cents/km
  • caravan: 15 cents/km
  • heavy load, e.g. a break cabin: 28 cents/km
  • machines or goods weighing over 80 kg or of large size: 4 cents/km
  • dog: 4 cents/km
  • forest road or closed road construction site: 12 cents/km
  • every other person in the vehicle whom the employer is responsible for transporting: 4 cents/km per person

Compensation for other vehicles

Other vehicles have their own maximum amounts. If the employee has the employer's car at their disposal as a fringe benefit and pays the running costs themselves, the tax-free compensation is at most 11 cents per kilometre.

  • motorcycle: 42 cents/km
  • moped: 23 cents/km
  • snowmobile: 134 cents/km
  • ATV: 126 cents/km
  • motorboat up to 50 hp: 97 cents/km
  • motorboat over 50 hp: 141 cents/km
  • other vehicle: 13 cents/km

Domestic daily allowances and meal allowance

Payment of the daily allowance requires that the special place of work is more than 15 kilometres from the regular place of work or the home, depending on which the trip starts from. In addition, the place must be more than 5 kilometres from both the regular place of work and the home.

In 2026 the partial daily allowance is at most €25 when a trip lasts over 6 hours, and the full daily allowance at most €54 when a trip lasts over 10 hours. On a multi-day trip, for the time after the last full travel day, €25 is paid if at least 2 hours accrue, and €54 if over 6 hours accrue.

If the employee receives free meals on the trip, the daily allowance is halved. For a full daily allowance, two free meals lead to halving; for a partial daily allowance, one.

If no daily allowance is paid and the employee cannot, because of work, eat at their usual meal place, the employer may pay a tax-exempt meal allowance of up to €13.50. For two meals the allowance is up to €27.

Daily allowances abroad 2026

The daily allowance abroad varies by country and is determined by the country in which the travel day ends. A daily allowance abroad is paid only if the business trip lasts at least 10 hours. Examples of the maximum amounts for 2026:

  • Sweden: 70 euros
  • Estonia: 82 euros
  • Germany: 78 euros
  • Spain: 78 euros
  • United States: €86 (New York, Los Angeles and Washington €93)
  • a country not separately mentioned: 52 euros

Night travel allowance and practical tips

The night travel allowance is at most 16 €. It requires that at least 4 hours of the travel day entitling to a daily allowance fall between 21:00 and 07:00 and that the employer has not arranged free accommodation or paid an accommodation or sleeping-berth allowance.

Keep a log of trips: date, departure and return time, route, kilometres driven and the purpose of the trip. On the basis of this information the employer can pay the allowances tax-free. All country-specific daily allowances can be found in the Tax Administration's decision.

Frequently asked questions

How much is the mileage allowance in 2026?

For a work trip made with your own car, the maximum tax-free amount is 55 cents per kilometre. In addition, supplements may apply, for example for a trailer or passengers.

How much is the domestic daily allowance in 2026?

The full daily allowance (over 10 hours) is at most 54 euros and the partial daily allowance (over 6 hours) at most 25 euros.

Is mileage allowance tax-free income?

Yes, when it is paid for a work trip at no more than the amount in the Tax Administration's decision. Compensation for trips between home and the actual workplace is taxable pay.

Salary Radar brings together the topic's figures, deadlines and services. Open Salary Radar →

Calculate it yourself

Ready-made tools

Sources

  1. Finnish Tax Administration: Finnish Tax Administration decision on tax-exempt reimbursements of travel costs in 2026
  2. Finnish Tax Administration: Reimbursement of travel costs in taxation
  3. Taxpayers of Finland: Daily allowances and mileage allowances
  4. Federation of Finnish Enterprises: Mileage allowances and daily allowances

The article is general information and does not replace the guidance of an authority, a lawyer or an adviser. Check up-to-date information from the sources.

Other guides