First decide whether the meal is deductible
Under the standard federal rule, meals furnished by the government or included in a registration fee generally reduce M&IE. A complimentary hotel or motel meal and a meal provided by a common carrier do not require this deduction. Agency-approved exceptions may apply for medical, religious or official-business reasons.
Do not mark every free meal in the calculator. A conference lunch included in the registration fee and a hotel’s complimentary breakfast are different cases.
Apply the travel-day reduction first
For a $92 full-day allowance, GSA allocates $23 to breakfast, $26 to lunch, $38 to dinner and $5 to incidentals. A full day with a deducted lunch leaves $66. On a first or last travel day, start at $69 and subtract the full $26 lunch allocation, leaving $43.
The meal deduction itself is not reduced to 75%. If the selected meal deductions would push the result below the incidental amount, retain the $5 incidental allowance. With all three meals supplied, both a full day and a travel day therefore retain $5 under this method.
Record meals on their actual dates
A three-day conference may provide lunch only on the middle day. Applying the deduction to all three days would understate the allowance. The daily table lets you set each meal independently and records the selection in the exported CSV.
The current provisions are in 41 CFR 301-11.20 and 301-11.21 following the December 2025 reorganization. Some GSA explanatory materials still cite the earlier section numbers.
Official sources
This guide explains a general method. Your travel authorization and applicable policy determine the claim. Report a correction.