Key takeaways
- The long-distance travel allowance (indemnité de grand déplacement) offsets the extra cost of meals, accommodation and breakfast for an employee on a business trip in mainland France who cannot get back home each day. Under the ministerial order of 4 September 2025, Article 5, the employee is presumed to be in that situation when the distance between their residence and the place of travel is “at least 50 kilometres (one way)” and public transport does not allow it to be covered “in less than 1 hour 30 minutes (one way)”.
- In 2026, according to the Urssaf, the exemption limits are €21.40 per meal and, for accommodation and breakfast, €76.60 per day in Paris and the Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne departments, and €56.80 per day in the other departments of mainland France, for the first three months.
- According to the Urssaf, these amounts are reduced by 15% from the first day of the 4th month, then by 30% from the first day of the 25th month; the order of 4 September 2025 measures this period at the same place of work and excludes the deduction beyond the sixtieth month.
- The employer chooses between reimbursing actual expenses, backed by receipts, and paying a flat-rate allowance: within the limits, the Urssaf requires no receipts for the expenses, the employer having to show that they are work-related.
All quotations from French law and official French sites in this article are our translations; the links go to the French originals.
Your company is sending a technician to a client’s site for six months, far from home. He will spend four days a week on site and sleep there on each of those nights. Payroll has to decide what to pay him for meals and nights, and in what form: a flat daily rate, or reimbursement of his bills.
The long-distance travel allowance is designed for this situation, with amounts uprated every year. The question is what the company can pay without social security contributions, and for how long.
What counts as long-distance travel: the 50 km and 90-minute presumption
The reference text is the order of 4 September 2025 on business expenses, Article 5 (arrêté du 4 septembre 2025 relatif aux frais professionnels), in force since 7 September 2025. It covers the employee “on a business trip and prevented from returning each day to their usual residence”, and sets two criteria:
“The employee or similar worker is presumed to be prevented from returning to their residence when the distance between the place of residence and the place of travel is at least 50 kilometres (one way) and public transport does not allow this distance to be covered in less than 1 hour 30 minutes (one way).”
Both criteria must be met.
This is a presumption. Article 5 adds: “However, when the employee or similar worker is prevented from returning home at the end of the day due to factual circumstances, they are considered to be in the long-distance travel situation provided for in this Article.”
The Bulletin officiel de la sécurité sociale (BOSS), the public site setting out the administration’s doctrine on social security contributions, points out that the expenses must be “made necessary by carrying out the assignment imposed by the employer and not result from a personal choice”. Among other cases, it also excludes:
- an employee who moves away from their place of work “to follow their spouse recruited by another company”;
- “employees hired on a one-off basis to carry out an assignment in a locality far from their home”.
According to the Urssaf, the flat-rate allowance covers “the food and accommodation costs incurred by your employee during their travel in mainland France”.
Long-distance travel allowance 2026: the amounts
The amounts in the order are uprated “every year on 1 January” (Article 10 of the order). In the table below, the meal column is the limit per meal; the last two columns are the daily limit for accommodation and breakfast.
| Length of assignment at the same place of work | Meal | Paris, 92, 93, 94 | Rest of mainland France |
|---|---|---|---|
| For the first three months | €21.40 | €76.60 | €56.80 |
| Beyond the 3rd month and up to the 24th month | €18.20 | €65.10 | €48.30 |
| Beyond the 24th month and up to the 60th month | €15.00 | €53.60 | €39.80 |
2026 amounts according to the Urssaf; duration thresholds according to the order of 4 September 2025, Article 5.
The BOSS allows the employer to deduct these allowances “per meal” for meals, and “per day” for accommodation and breakfast. They are exemption limits, not amounts owed.
The Paris rate does not extend elsewhere: according to the BOSS, it “cannot be granted for other large cities or other departments”.
Duration. According to the Urssaf, the first-row amounts apply “for a travel period of 3 months, continuous or not, in mainland France”. After that, they are reduced by 15% from the first day of the 4th month, then by 30% from the first day of the 25th month. Article 5 of the order ties this extension to an assignment “beyond three months at the same place of work, continuously or not”. The same Article sets the end point: “The employer cannot benefit from the deduction for assignment periods beyond the sixtieth month.” The Urssaf and the BOSS give a six-year limit; the order in force stops at the sixtieth month.
Worked example: a six-month assignment in Lyon
An employee is sent for six months to the same site in Lyon. They spend four days a week there, with one night on site on each of those days. Both conditions of the presumption are assumed to be met. Lyon falls under the column for the other departments.
| Period | Accommodation and breakfast limit per day | Limit per week (4 days) | Limit per meal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Months 1 to 3 | €56.80 | 4 × €56.80 = €227.20 | €21.40 |
| Months 4 to 6 | €48.30 | 4 × €48.30 = €193.20 | €18.20 |
The drop from €56.80 to €48.30 is the 15% reduction applied from the first day of the 4th month, with the result rounded “to the nearest ten euro cents” (order, Article 5). Meals are calculated separately, per meal.
Flat rate or actual expenses: what the employer has to prove
Article 2 of the order of 4 September 2025 offers two routes. The first is reimbursing the expenses actually incurred, in which case “the employer is required to produce the corresponding receipts”. The second is the flat-rate allowance, deductible within the limits of the order, provided it is actually used for its purpose.
For actual expenses, the Urssaf exempts the reimbursement if the employer can “prove that your employee is obliged to incur these additional expenses as part of their work” and “produce the receipts for these expenses”. There is then no exemption limit.
For a flat rate within the limits of the table, the Urssaf states that “no receipts for these expenses are required, you only have to show that the expenses are work-related”. For long-distance travel, the BOSS sets two conditions, the second of which concerns the employee’s situation: “Flat-rate allowances received are deemed to be used in accordance with their purpose and to cover business expenses if: they do not exceed the limits set by the order, and the employer shows that the employee cannot return to their residence each day and that, as a result, they incur dual residence costs.”
Above the limits, the BOSS adds: “When the flat-rate allowances received exceed the limits set by the order, the employer must also prove that the expenses were actually incurred.” Among the documents it lists, in a list it says is not exhaustive, is a rent receipt.
Accommodation on long-distance assignments
For accommodation, the flat-rate limit is set per day and covers, in the Urssaf table, “accommodation and breakfast”.
The employer can also provide the accommodation itself. The BOSS deals with this separately: “When the factual circumstances establish the reality of the long-distance travel situation, the provision by the employer of accommodation for which it pays the rental costs and ancillary costs such as electricity may be considered as representing business expenses, with no benefit in kind in that case to be added back to the basis for social security contributions.”
The BOSS adds that, in that case, “reimbursement of breakfast costs may be made on the basis of the expenses actually incurred”.
Renting on fixed days for a weekly recurring assignment
An employee who spends two fixed nights a week at a site far from home can rent on fixed days, in their own name, under a fixed-days lease, governed by Articles 1714 et seq. of the French Civil Code. The days are fixed for the whole term, at least three months, and the employee has their own contract.
On the example rate outside Paris, two fixed nights a week come to €476 a month. Our comparison of employee housing costs on assignment sets this cost against a hotel, a tourist furnished rental and a monthly rental.
For property owners: nights let every week
For an owner, an employee who returns to the same site every week means nights let on a regular basis, on the same days. Our owners’ guide explains how to let a second home on that schedule.
Don’t confuse long-distance travel with a change of workplace
Long-distance travel assumes, according to the Urssaf, that the employee is travelling: “their place of assignment is different from their usual place of work. They cannot return home every day”. An employee whose workplace itself changes is the subject of our article on employee relocation in France.
What to check before paying the allowance
- Distance and travel time, one way, between the employee’s residence and the place of assignment; failing that, the factual circumstances that prevent the employee from getting home in the evening.
- The department of the place of assignment, which sets the column of the scale.
- The start date of the assignment at the same place of work, which sets the first day of the 4th month, that of the 25th month and the end of the sixtieth month.
- The method chosen: flat-rate allowance within the limits, or reimbursement of actual expenses with their receipts.
Frequently asked questions
What are the long-distance travel allowance rates for 2026?
According to the Urssaf, the 2026 exemption limits are €21.40 per meal and, for accommodation and breakfast, €76.60 per day in Paris and the Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne departments, and €56.80 per day in the other departments of mainland France. These amounts apply for the first three months and are uprated every 1 January.
What happens to the allowance when the assignment lasts more than three months?
According to the Urssaf, the amounts are reduced by 15% from the first day of the 4th month, then by 30% from the first day of the 25th month. Under Article 5 of the order of 4 September 2025, this period is measured at the same place of work, and the employer cannot benefit from the deduction for assignment periods beyond the sixtieth month.
Are receipts needed for a flat-rate long-distance travel allowance?
Within the exemption limits, the Urssaf states that no receipts for the expenses are required, the employer only having to show that they are work-related. According to the BOSS, the employer also shows that the employee cannot return to their residence each day and, as a result, incurs dual residence costs.
If the assignment concerns a new hire still on probation, our article on housing an employee on probation goes through the options. The business guide brings together our articles on housing employees who travel for work. The lease in the employee’s name and employer-provided housing are covered, as cash and in-kind benefits, in housing an employee in France: how it works.