Key facts
- Text in force: the order of 4 September 2025 sets the exemption limits; it repealed the order of 20 December 2002 on 7 September 2025.
- 2026 meals: €7.50 at the workplace, €21.40 at a restaurant while travelling, €10.40 outside a restaurant, if the situation giving entitlement to the flat rate is proven.
- Long-distance travel: €21.40 per meal and €76.60 per night in Paris and the inner suburbs (€56.80 elsewhere), reduced by 15% from the 4th month.
- Meal voucher: employer's share exempt up to €7.32 in 2026, if it represents between 50% and 60% of the voucher's value.
- VAT: deductible on an invoice, but excluded for staff hotels, trains, planes, taxis and the hire of passenger cars; diesel and petrol for these cars are 80% deductible.
- Retention: 10 years for accounting records, 6 years for tax documents, 3 years for documents relating to contributions.
Actual cost or flat-rate allowance: what are the rules?
The employer reimburses the expenses an employee incurs for work, at actual cost or as a flat rate, and chooses the method for each type of expense. Put this choice in writing in an expenses policy:
- at actual cost: the reimbursement is exempt from contributions with no ceiling, if the employer proves the expense was required by the work and produces the receipts;
- as a flat rate: below the limits published by URSSAF (Union de recouvrement des cotisations de sécurité sociale et d'allocations familiales, the body that collects social security contributions), no receipt is required, but the employer must prove the business nature of the allowance (travel, a meal imposed by the organisation of work).
Above the limits, the excess is exempt only against receipts. An allowance whose business nature is not shown becomes salary from the first euro. Flat rates do not apply to executives covered by the self-employed scheme, nor to minority or equal managers (gérants) of SARL and SELARL companies, chairman-CEOs of SA companies and presidents and executives of SAS companies: they are reimbursed at actual cost.
The reference text is the order of 4 September 2025 on business expenses, published in the Official Journal of 6 September 2025. Its article 12 repealed the order of 20 December 2002 with effect from 7 September 2025: an expenses policy that still cites the 2002 text needs updating.
2026 URSSAF limits: meals and long-distance travel
Since 1 January 2026, a meal is exempt up to €7.50 at the workplace, €21.40 at a restaurant while travelling and €10.40 while travelling outside a restaurant. A travel meal assumes the employee is away from the premises and unable to return home or to their usual workplace; for a restaurant, the employer must show the employee had to eat there. A meal at the workplace is covered only if the employee must eat on site: team, shift, continuous, staggered-hours or night work.
| Situation | 2026 limit |
|---|---|
| Meal at the workplace (constraint) | €7.50 |
| Restaurant meal while travelling | €21.40 |
| Meal while travelling, outside a restaurant | €10.40 |
| Long-distance travel, meal | €21.40 (first 3 months); €18.20 (4th to 24th month); €15.00 (25th to 72nd month) |
| Long-distance travel, accommodation and breakfast in Paris, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne | €76.60; €65.10; €53.60 |
| Long-distance travel, accommodation and breakfast in other départements | €56.80; €48.30; €39.80 |
Long-distance travel (grand déplacement) requires at least 50 km between home and the place of work and at least 1 hour 30 minutes by public transport, outward or return. The flat rates fall by 15% from the 4th month and by 30% from the 25th month.
Example: a technician sent on assignment to Lyon for 5 months meets the long-distance travel conditions. For the first 3 months, the employer can pay €21.40 per meal and €56.80 per night without receipts; in the 4th and 5th months, €18.20 and €48.30. If it pays €25 per meal in the first months, €3.60 per meal is subject to contributions, unless receipts for the actual expense are produced.
Mileage allowances, commuting and meal vouchers
Mileage allowances paid to an employee who uses a personal vehicle for work are exempt within the tax scale, which depends on the vehicle's fiscal horsepower (CV) and the kilometres driven in the year. This scale has not been uprated since 2023: for 2026, URSSAF publishes the same amounts, increased by 20% for a 100% electric vehicle.
| Fiscal horsepower | Combustion, hybrid or hydrogen vehicle | 100% electric vehicle |
|---|---|---|
| 3 CV or less | €0.529 | €0.635 |
| 4 CV | €0.606 | €0.727 |
| 5 CV | €0.636 | €0.763 |
| 6 CV | €0.665 | €0.798 |
| 7 CV or more | €0.697 | €0.836 |
Example: 3,000 business kilometres in a 5 CV car give €1,908 (3,000 × €0.636), and €2,289 with an electric car (3,000 × €0.763). For a 5 CV car, the calculation becomes (distance × 0.357) + €1,395 from 5,001 to 20,000 km, then distance × 0.427 beyond. Keep a log of trips (date, route, kilometres, purpose) and a copy of the vehicle registration certificate: without these, the allowances are added back to the contribution base.
Commuting
The employer pays 50% of its employees' public transport passes, including for part-time staff. In 2026, a higher contribution remains exempt up to 75% of the pass's cost (art. 68 of the 2026 Finance Act). Parking can also be reimbursed free of contributions, at the cheapest rate and against receipts, if working hours or the place of work require the car.
Meal vouchers
The employee receives one voucher per working day whose schedule includes a meal, remote days included, and none on days of absence. The employer's share is exempt if it represents between 50% and 60% of the voucher's value and does not exceed €7.32 in 2026 (€7.26 in 2025), which corresponds to a voucher worth €12.20 to €14.64. Until 31 December 2026, the voucher can pay for any food product, even one not ready to eat (Act no. 2025-56 of 21 January 2025). The rules specific to remote work are set out on our page on remote work in France.
Which VAT can you recover on expense claims?
VAT on an expense claim can be recovered only by a business liable for VAT, on an expense needed for its operations, supported by an invoice bearing the mandatory details, including the identity of the customer business. Several common expenses are excluded by the CGI (Code général des impôts, the General Tax Code). Electronic invoicing is being rolled out: since 1 September 2026, every business must be able to receive e-invoices through an approved platform, and large companies and mid-sized companies (ETI) issue their business-to-business invoices this way; SMEs and micro-businesses will do so from 1 September 2027.
| Expense | Deductible VAT |
|---|---|
| Hotel for employees and executives | No, except for the share of third parties named on the invoice |
| Train, plane, taxi, chauffeur-driven hire car (VTC) | No |
| Hire, servicing and repair of a passenger car | No |
| Diesel, petrol, E85 superethanol for a passenger car | 80%, and nothing on private journeys |
| LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) for a passenger car | Yes, under the ordinary rules, for business journeys |
| Diesel, petrol, E85 superethanol for a non-excluded vehicle, such as a van | 100% since 1 January 2022 |
| Restaurant meal, for business or while travelling | Yes, on an invoice, if the expense is incurred in the business's interest |
| Gifts | Yes, up to €73 including VAT per item per year for the same recipient |
Example: a €60 tank of diesel for a passenger car contains €10 of VAT; the business recovers €8 (80%) if the journey is for business. For a hotel invoice that also covers a customer, the VAT on the customer's share is deductible, provided the invoice names the beneficiaries. The rules for company vehicles are on our page on company cars in France.
Receipts: how long must you keep them and can you scan them?
Keep expense claim receipts for 10 years: they are accounting records. The minimum periods are:
- 10 years from the end of the financial year for accounting records (art. L.123-22 of the Commercial Code);
- 6 years for tax documents (art. L.102 B of the Tax Procedures Code), 10 years in the case of undeclared activity;
- 3 years for documents relating to social security contributions.
A paper invoice can be scanned at any time and then kept electronically, provided the copy is identical to the original: colours kept where they carry meaning, no retouching, lossless compression. The file is in PDF or PDF/A-3 format and protected by a server seal, a digital fingerprint, an electronic signature or an equivalent mechanism, with a timestamp. The process must be documented and checked regularly (art. A.102 B-2 of the Tax Procedures Code).
Without these safeguards, only the paper original is valid evidence: do not destroy it after a simple scan, or the VAT deduction may be challenged.
Common mistakes
- Citing the order of 20 December 2002 in the expenses policy: it has been repealed since 7 September 2025.
- Paying the restaurant meal allowance (€21.40) without being able to show that the employee had to eat there.
- Recovering VAT on employees' hotels, trains, planes, taxis or passenger car hire.
- Deducting 100% of the VAT on diesel for a passenger car, or the VAT on fuel for private journeys.
- Paying mileage allowances without a trip log or a copy of the registration certificate.
- Destroying paper originals after a simple scan, without meeting the scanning conditions of the Tax Procedures Code.
Your checklist
- Write an expenses policy that chooses actual cost or flat rate for each type of expense and cites the order of 4 September 2025.
- Apply the limits for the year of the expense (2026: €7.50, €21.40, €10.40).
- Check the situation giving entitlement to the flat rate: travel, meal constraint, 50 km and 1 hour 30 minutes for long-distance travel.
- Reduce long-distance travel flat rates by 15% from the 4th month and by 30% from the 25th month.
- Require a trip log and the registration certificate before paying mileage allowances.
- Ask for invoices in the company's name and split VAT into deductible, 80% deductible or excluded.
- Subject to contributions the part of an allowance that exceeds the limits without receipts.
- Archive records for 10 years and scan paper invoices in line with article A.102 B-2 of the Tax Procedures Code before destroying the originals.
How Luxapps helps
FXP and MySafeBox handle the expense claim from the photo of the receipt to reimbursement through payroll. In France, the tools are configured for the country and connected by API to your payroll software.
Entry with a photo of the receipt and an approval workflow; French ceilings and scales are configured in the tool.
FXP and MySafeBoxThe approved reimbursement is included in the month's payroll: the variables grid is checked, approved and then sent to your payroll software.
FXP and MySafeBoxReceipts archived with their claim, documents encrypted with AES-256 and 10-year archiving built in.
FXP and MySafeBoxEvery action is logged, from entry to approval: during an inspection, you show who approved each claim.
FXP and MySafeBoxFrequently asked questions
Since 1 January 2026, the meal allowance is exempt up to €7.50 when the employee must eat at the workplace, €21.40 when they have to eat at a restaurant while travelling and €10.40 for a meal while travelling outside a restaurant. On long-distance travel, a meal is covered up to €21.40 for the first 3 months. No receipt is needed below these limits, but the travel or constraint must be proven.
In 2026, URSSAF applies the tax scale, unchanged since 2023: for example €0.636 per kilometre up to 5,000 km for a 5 CV car. For a 100% electric car, the scale is increased by 20%, i.e. €0.763 per kilometre for 5 CV. Without a trip log or registration certificate, the allowances are added back to the contribution base.
Not for employees' and executives' hotels, nor for trains, planes, taxis or VTC rides: these expenses are excluded from the right to deduct. Yes for a restaurant meal incurred in the business's interest, with a compliant invoice. For diesel or petrol for a passenger car, the deduction is limited to 80%.
Accounting records are kept for 10 years from the end of the financial year, tax documents for 6 years and documents relating to contributions for 3 years: so keep receipts for 10 years. A paper invoice can be scanned if the copy meets the conditions of article A.102 B-2 of the Tax Procedures Code; otherwise, only the original is valid evidence.
In 2026, the employer's share of a meal voucher is exempt up to €7.32 per voucher, compared with €7.26 in 2025, provided it represents between 50% and 60% of the voucher's value. The employee receives one voucher per working day whose schedule includes a meal, remote days included.
The part above the limit is subject to contributions, unless the employer produces receipts for the actual expense. If the business nature of the allowance is not shown, the whole allowance is added back as salary, from the first euro.
Official sources
- Légifrance, order of 4 September 2025 on business expenses
- URSSAF, 2026 rates and scales for business expenses
- URSSAF, business expenses
- URSSAF, rates and scales for benefits in kind (meal voucher)
- URSSAF, 2026 mileage allowance scale
- BOFiP, VAT, accommodation expenses BOI-TVA-DED-30-30-10
- BOFiP, VAT, passenger transport BOI-TVA-DED-30-30-30
- BOFiP, VAT, petroleum products BOI-TVA-DED-30-30-40
- Service Public Entreprendre, retention periods for business documents
- BOFiP, retention and scanning of invoices BOI-CF-COM-10-10-30
This guide sets out the general rules in force on 5 October 2026. It is not legal advice for your situation (collective agreement, sector, employee status).