The General Services Administration (GSA) issued its annual updated list of federal maximum per diem rates for travel to locations within the continental United States (CONUS). Per Diem Bulletin FTR 21-01 is effective for travel undertaken on or after October 1, 2020 [85 F.R. 50025, 8-17-20].
GSA Per Diem Rates
The federal per diem rate is a combination of the lodging expense rate and the meal and incidental expense (M&IE) rate for the locality of travel. For travel within CONUS, the per diem rates published by the GSA may be used to substantiate certain travel expenses.
The standard CONUS M&IE rate remains at $55 for fiscal year (FY) 2021. The five M&IE rates for non-standard areas (NSAs) also remain at $56, $61, $66, $71, and $76. For all locations within CONUS not shown on the list, the lodging per diem remains at $96, the M&IE rate remains at $55, and the combined maximum standard per diem rate remains at $151. The combined per diem rates for the listed NSA locations range from a low of $152 (off-season) for several locations, to a high of $494 (peak season) for Telluride, Colo. There are 319 (NSA) locations in FY 2021. Albuquerque, N.M., has been added to the list of NSA locations.
Deleted Areas
For FY 2021, these locations that were NSAs in FY 2020 move into the standard CONUS rate category:
- Gainesville, Florida
- Atlantic City, New Jersey
- College Station, Texas
- Abingdon, Virginia
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Jyme Mariani, Esq., is Managing Editor of Payroll Currently and Payroll Information Resources for the APA.
