The standard meal allowance is the amount a taxpayer who travels away from his or her tax home for work related travel can deduct for meals and incidental expenses (M&IE) if that taxpayer chooses not to use the actual cost meal deduction.  The standard meal allowance is set by the federal government for every individual locality in the world for a specific time of the year.  The standard meal allowance rates are also known as CONUS per diem rates and OCONUS per diem rates.

For flight crewmembers who want to write off their meal expenses, the standard meal allowance may be used.  In fact, flight crews may actually use one of two possible standard meal allowance methods.  The first standard meal allowance method is what EZPERDIEM.COM refers to as the city-by-city per diem calculation.  The second standard meal allowance method is called the special rate for transportation workers in IRS Publication 463.  EZPERDIEM.COM calculates both of those methods simultaneously and gives the pilot or flight attendant the higher meal expense calculation of the two.