Originally Posted by
Jenbel
Which always makes it a little bit odd that civil servants are able to claim per diems. OTOH, since those per diems are agreed by HMRC, they are not exactly bounteously high - it's pretty difficult to live the high life on them - McDonalds and Little Chef more like!
Indeed. And you have explained why. Government is in control and makes the per diems available at a realistic (?) rate knowing that they are unlikely to be abused.
There is a kind of per diem allowed to industry IIRC. Isn't there a non-taxable £10 per day which is supposed to cover a phone call home and perhaps a newspaper when away = when abroad? We didn't bother with this as we weren't spending £10 or whatever the limit was and got reimbursed at cost anyway.