per diem breakdown the gsa breaks down business trip per diem rates into two categories the first is lodging and the second is meals and incidental expenses the incidental part of the meals and incidental expenses per diem is $ 5 per day no matter where you traveleals broken down the daily per diem is further broken down into each meal plus the $ 5 incidental rate tier 1 per diems are $ 7 for breakfast $ 11 for lunch and $ 23 for dinner tier 2 per diems are $ 8 for breakfast $ 12 for lunch and $ 26 for dinner tier 3 provides $ 9 for breakfast $ 13 for lunch and $ 29 for dinner