Last Updated on September 11, 2026 by Daniel Globe
If you’re travelling in London for work, there is no special HMRC “London food allowance” or automatic £160 daily food entitlement. For qualifying UK business travel, employers can use HMRC benchmark meal rates of up to £5 after 5 hours, £10 after 10 hours, or £25 after 15 hours when the journey is still ongoing at 8pm. Employers may also reimburse qualifying actual expenses instead, so always check which system your employer uses.
Quick Answer
HMRC does not set a higher meal allowance simply because you are working in London. Under the UK benchmark scale-rate system, qualifying business travel can support up to £5 after 5 hours, £10 after 10 hours, or £25 after 15 hours when travel continues beyond 8pm.
Key Takeaways
- There is no general £160 HMRC London food allowance.
- Current benchmark meal rates are £5 after 5 hours, £10 after 10 hours, and £25 after 15 hours when qualifying travel is still ongoing at 8pm.
- The benchmark rates are an optional reimbursement method, not a universal cap on every qualifying actual expense.
- Ordinary commuting does not qualify as business travel for these rules.
- Since 6 April 2019, HMRC does not require employers using benchmark scale rates to check meal receipts, although your employer can still require them.
- Employer policies may impose their own meal limits, receipt rules and restrictions, so check your organisation’s policy before spending.
Warning: HMRC rules and your employer’s expense policy are not the same thing. An employer can set lower reimbursement limits, require receipts or prohibit particular purchases even when HMRC tax rules would permit a different treatment.
What Is the London Food Allowance?
There is no separate HMRC London daily food allowance for employees. London follows the same UK benchmark subsistence rules as other UK destinations. The important question is not whether you are in London, but whether your journey qualifies as business travel and which reimbursement method your employer uses.
For qualifying travel, an employer can use HMRC benchmark scale rates, reimburse qualifying actual expenses, or use an HMRC-approved bespoke scale rate where appropriate.
Note: Do not treat £160 as an HMRC food allowance. Organisations sometimes publish their own London accommodation or travel ceilings, but those are employer-specific policies rather than a universal HMRC meal entitlement.
A benchmark rate also is not money you automatically receive simply because you have been away from home for a certain number of hours. The journey must meet the qualifying-travel rules, and a qualifying meal expense must arise after the journey begins.
When Does HMRC Meal Allowance Apply?
HMRC benchmark meal rates can apply when you are travelling in the performance of your employment duties or travelling to a temporary workplace. The journey must not be ordinary commuting or substantially the same as ordinary commuting.
HMRC’s business-travel guidance distinguishes travel carried out as part of your job from the normal journey between your home and a permanent workplace.
The length of the journey matters only after the journey qualifies as business travel.
- Your journey should be required by your employment duties.
- Travel to a temporary workplace may qualify.
- Normal home-to-permanent-workplace commuting generally does not qualify.
- You must actually incur a qualifying meal cost after the business journey starts.
- Your employer can impose additional expense-policy requirements.
Temporary-workplace status can also be affected by HMRC’s rules on how long you are expected to work at a location. For longer assignments, review the temporary workplace and 24-month rule rather than assuming every short-term posting qualifies indefinitely.
What Are the London Daily Food Rates?
London does not have a separate HMRC benchmark rate. The current UK benchmark meal rates are:
| Minimum qualifying journey | Maximum benchmark meal rate |
| 5 hours | £5 |
| 10 hours | £10 |
| 15 hours and journey still ongoing at 8pm | £25 |
If the £5 or £10 benchmark rate applies and the qualifying journey continues beyond 8pm, HMRC allows a supplementary rate of up to £10 to cover additional expenses necessarily incurred because of the late finish.
These amounts are maximum benchmark scale rates. An employer can pay less. They are not a target to spend up to, and they are not the only way an employer can reimburse business-travel meals.
Benchmark Rate vs. Actual Expenses vs. Bespoke Rate
| Method | How it works |
| HMRC benchmark rate | Employer pays a standard amount within the published £5, £10 or £25 limits when qualifying conditions are met. |
| Actual expenses | Employer reimburses the qualifying business cost actually incurred, normally under its evidence and expense-policy rules. |
| Bespoke scale rate | An employer uses a different scale rate that has been agreed with HMRC where the required conditions are met. |
What Can You Claim on a Work Trip?
When a London trip qualifies as business travel, allowable travel costs can include more than food. HMRC guidance says qualifying business travel can include necessary subsistence, meals bought while at a temporary workplace, accommodation where an overnight stay is required, and associated travel costs such as parking, tolls or public transport where the relevant conditions are met.
For meals, your employer may reimburse actual qualifying expenditure or use benchmark scale rates. A meal already reimbursed on an actual basis should not also be reimbursed through a benchmark rate. For example, if breakfast is included in the hotel bill and reimbursed, the same breakfast should not produce a second benchmark payment.
There is also a separate rule for incidental overnight expenses. Employers may pay up to £5 per night for qualifying overnight stays in the UK, or £10 per night outside the UK, under the specific incidental-expense exemption. This is different from a meal allowance.
HMRC does not publish a general benchmark rate for staying with friends or family. If your employer offers a friends-and-family allowance, that amount comes from its own policy and should not be presented as a universal HMRC entitlement.
Pro Tip: Before booking or eating, check whether your employer uses benchmark rates, actual reimbursement or its own approved scale rates. That one detail determines how you should document and submit the expense.
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How Do Receipts Prove Your Claim?
Receipts remain useful evidence, but the rule depends on the reimbursement method. If your employer reimburses actual meal costs, its expense system will normally require evidence showing what you purchased, when and for how much. Receipts are also important if you personally claim tax relief from HMRC for qualifying hotel or meal expenses.
However, the rule is different when an employer uses HMRC benchmark scale rates. Since 6 April 2019, HMRC no longer requires employers using those benchmark rates to check receipts or other documentary proof of how much employees spent. Employers must instead have a system that confirms the employee was undertaking qualifying travel.
You can read the current rule in HMRC’s guidance on the removal of benchmark-rate receipt checking.
Your employer can still require itemized receipts as part of its own internal policy. Keeping receipts is therefore a sensible default even when HMRC does not require receipt checking for the benchmark-rate method.
What If You Go Over HMRC Rates?
Spending more than a benchmark rate does not automatically mean the whole business meal becomes non-claimable. The important question is which reimbursement method your employer is using.
If an employer is specifically using the HMRC benchmark scale-rate system and pays more than the published benchmark amount without an applicable bespoke arrangement, the excess can become subject to tax and National Insurance.
That does not mean £25 is a universal maximum for every qualifying business meal. Employers can instead reimburse qualifying actual business-travel expenses. HMRC explains that necessary meals and subsistence attributable to qualifying business journeys can form part of allowable travel expenses.
If your employer routinely needs a different fixed rate, it may also be possible for it to use a bespoke scale-rate arrangement where HMRC’s requirements are satisfied.
Note: “Above the benchmark rate” and “not allowable” are not the same thing. Benchmark rates are an administrative scale-rate system; qualifying actual expenses are a separate reimbursement route.
How Do You Eat Cheaply in London?
Whether you are being reimbursed or paying personally, London food costs are easier to control when you plan before reaching the busiest tourist areas. Supermarkets such as Tesco and Asda can be useful for prepared food, snacks and drinks, while bakeries, markets and casual cafés may cost less than full-service restaurants.
If your employer uses a fixed benchmark payment rather than reimbursing actual expenses, compare your meal choices with the amount your employer will pay. There is no benefit in spending extra merely because you are travelling for work.
- Check menus before choosing a restaurant.
- Use supermarkets for simple breakfasts, snacks and prepared meals.
- Look one or two streets away from major tourist attractions.
- Choose cafés, bakeries or casual restaurants when a formal meal is unnecessary.
- Keep personal treats separate from reimbursable business expenses where your employer requires it.
An employer may also impose restrictions that are not universal HMRC rules. For example, some organisations prohibit alcohol or cap specific meal categories. Follow your employer’s policy even when another organisation uses different limits.
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How Can You Stretch Your Work-Trip Budget?
To stretch your work-trip budget, start with your employer’s reimbursement policy rather than an assumed £160 daily allowance. Identify what is reimbursed, what requires approval and whether the employer uses actual expenses or a scale rate.
- Plan meals around your meeting and travel schedule.
- Avoid buying a second meal when one is already provided by a hotel, conference or client.
- Keep reimbursable business costs separate from personal sightseeing and entertainment.
- Save receipts even if your employer’s benchmark-rate process does not normally require them.
- Ask for approval before unusually high costs when your company policy requires it.
If you extend a business trip for personal sightseeing, keep the private part of the trip separate. HMRC tax relief is tied to qualifying business travel rather than the fact that you happen to be away from home.
How Do You Report Meal Allowance Claims?
For most employees, the practical first step is to use the employer’s expense system. The tax and reporting treatment depends on whether the payment is exempt, reimburses qualifying actual costs, uses a benchmark scale rate, or includes a taxable excess.
| Step | What to do |
| 1 | Confirm that the journey is qualifying business travel rather than ordinary commuting. |
| 2 | Check whether your employer uses actual expenses, HMRC benchmark rates or another approved policy. |
| 3 | Keep the evidence required by your employer, including receipts where its policy or the reimbursement method requires them. |
| 4 | Submit the claim through your employer’s expense system and identify the correct business purpose. |
| 5 | If part of a payment is taxable, the employer should apply the appropriate payroll or reporting treatment rather than assuming every excess belongs on P11D. |
If you pay qualifying travel expenses yourself and your employer does not reimburse them, you may be able to claim employee tax relief. GOV.UK’s travel and overnight expense guidance explains the eligibility and claim process. Ordinary commuting remains excluded.
Tax Information: This article provides general information about UK travel and subsistence rules, not personalised tax advice. Your contract, employer policy, journey pattern and individual circumstances can change the correct treatment.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Much Should I Budget per Day for Food in London?
There is no official tourist food budget for London. Your personal budget depends on whether you use supermarkets, cafés, casual restaurants or full-service dining. Do not use HMRC’s £5, £10 or £25 business-travel benchmark rates as a guide to how much a tourist should spend.
What Is the 50 30 20 Rule in London?
The 50/30/20 rule is a personal budgeting guideline that divides take-home income into roughly 50% for needs, 30% for wants and 20% for savings or debt repayment. It is not an HMRC business-travel or meal-allowance rule.
How Much Money Do You Need as a Tourist in London per Day?
There is no single official amount because accommodation, transport, attractions and dining choices vary widely. Build a personal daily budget from current prices for the activities you plan to use. HMRC employee subsistence rates are for qualifying business travel and are not tourist spending recommendations.
What Is the Average Meal Allowance in the UK?
HMRC does not publish one average UK meal allowance. Under the benchmark scale-rate system, the maximum is £5 after 5 hours of qualifying travel, £10 after 10 hours, or £25 after 15 hours where the journey remains ongoing at 8pm. Employers may choose different reimbursement methods.
Does London Have a Higher HMRC Meal Allowance?
No. HMRC’s UK benchmark meal rates do not provide a special higher rate simply because the employee is in London. Your employer may have separate London accommodation or expense limits, but those are organisation-specific.
Do You Need Receipts for HMRC Meal Allowance Claims?
Not always. Since 6 April 2019, HMRC does not require employers using its benchmark scale rates to check receipts showing the amount employees spent. Employers must check that qualifying travel occurred, and they may still impose their own receipt requirements. Actual-expense reimbursement and personal tax-relief claims can require supporting evidence.
Conclusion
London does not come with a special £160 HMRC food allowance. For qualifying UK business travel, HMRC’s benchmark meal rates are currently £5 after 5 hours, £10 after 10 hours, and £25 after 15 hours when the journey remains ongoing at 8pm. A late-evening supplement may also apply in specific cases.
The benchmark rates are only one reimbursement method. Your employer can reimburse qualifying actual expenses or, where appropriate, use another approved arrangement. Check that your journey qualifies, follow your employer’s expense policy, keep evidence when required, and never confuse an organisation-specific London allowance with a universal HMRC rule.
Sources
- HMRC Employment Income Manual EIM30240 — current UK benchmark scale rates, qualifying conditions, late-evening supplement and friends/family clarification.
- HMRC Employment Income Manual EIM30225 — removal of receipt checking for benchmark scale rates from 6 April 2019.
- HMRC Business Journeys Tax Relief, Chapter 5 — qualifying subsistence, actual travel expenses and meals at temporary workplaces.
- GOV.UK Travel and Overnight Expenses — employee tax-relief eligibility, receipts and claim routes.
- GOV.UK Incidental Overnight Expenses — £5 UK and £10 overseas incidental-expense limits.
- HMRC Employment Income Manual EIM32080 — temporary workplace and 24-month rule.
