# What Is Per Diem for Actors? (On Tour, on Location, and in Your Contract)

> Per diem is the daily money a production gives you to live on when the job takes you away from home. When actors get it on tour and on location, how it differs from your salary, what to check in a contract or deal memo, and the simple records worth keeping.

- URL: https://www.offbook.com/blog/what-is-per-diem-for-actors
- Published: 2026-11-07
- Last updated: 2026-11-07

The offer email is short. Weekly salary, rehearsal start date, eight cities over five months, and at the bottom, almost as an afterthought: "plus per diem." Or it's a film role two states away, with a line in the deal memo that says "travel, lodging, and per diem per union minimums."

You know it means some kind of daily money. You may not know what it's meant to cover, whether it's the same thing as your pay, or what happens to it at tax time. Those details can decide whether a job on the road leaves you ahead or behind.

The short version: per diem (Latin for "by the day") is a daily allowance an employer gives you for living costs, usually meals and sometimes housing, when the work keeps you away from home. Actors usually see it on tours, out-of-town theater jobs, and film or TV shoots on overnight locations. It's listed separately from your salary, and it can be treated differently for union dues, benefit contributions, and taxes, depending on the contract and how it's paid. Before you sign, find out exactly what it covers, how it's paid, and whether housing is separate. Then keep simple records while you travel.

## What per diem actually means

The plainest definition comes from the tax side. [IRS Publication 463](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p463) describes a per diem allowance as "a fixed amount of daily reimbursement" from your employer for lodging and for meals and incidental expenses, which the IRS shortens to **M&IE**. Incidentals are the small costs of being on the road, like tips.

In entertainment, the word often means something narrower. A [Media Services guide to budgeting for SAG-AFTRA talent](https://www.mediaservices.com/blog/sag-aftra-explained-budgeting-for-union-talent/) calls per diem a minimum payment to talent for meals when meals aren't provided, and notes that location filming often comes with lodging and a per diem. In that setup, the hotel is booked for you and the per diem feeds you.

So the first thing to learn about any per diem is what it's supposed to pay for. "Per diem" on one job can mean meal money only. On another, it can be the money you're expected to find a place to sleep with. The word is the same, but the deal isn't.

## When actors get per diem

Per diem follows one idea: the job takes you far enough from home that the contract counts you as out of town. The details depend on the contract, but three situations come up again and again.

### Touring theater

On a union tour, per diem is part of the basic deal. Under the most recent Equity touring agreement, as described on Actors' Equity's [Touring Agreement page](https://actorsequity.org/resources/contracts-and-codes/touring), the employer provided housing and per diem for all members outside their permanent place of residence. When we checked in November 2026, that page still described the agreement that began on February 6, 2023, with an expiration date of September 7, 2026, so check the current terms before you rely on them.

Non-union tours set their own terms in the contract you're offered. An offer can include housing, pay a per diem and leave housing to you, or mix the two, so read that part as closely as the salary. Our guide to [Equity vs non-Equity theater](https://www.offbook.com/blog/equity-vs-non-equity-theater) covers what a union contract guarantees and what a non-union one leaves to the paper in front of you.

### Out-of-town theater jobs

You don't need to be on a bus tour to be "out of town." A single production in another city can count. As of November 2026, Equity's page for its [Single Engagement Agreement](https://actorsequity.org/resources/producers/agreements-and-forms/single-engagement-agreement) defines an out-of-town actor or stage manager as one whose home address, as listed with Equity, is 50 miles or more from the theater. It says those actors are provided housing at no cost, in a private bedroom, along with a per diem and round-trip transportation, and that a producer who can't provide the accommodations must consult Equity before issuing contracts.

That one rule shows something useful: the address on file with Equity matters. If you've moved, update it before you start booking work away from home.

### Film and TV on location

On screen work, the trigger is usually an **overnight location**, a shoot far enough from home that you have to stay there. Lodging and a meal per diem often come together on union jobs, as the Media Services guide describes. That guide, written in 2022 for producers budgeting union talent, also notes that travel days are generally paid at the performer's normal rate even if no work is done. Check your contract for the current rule.

The flip side is local hire. If a breakdown says "local hire only," it usually means the production won't pay your travel, housing, or per diem. Our guide on [moving to LA or New York for acting](https://www.offbook.com/blog/move-to-la-or-new-york-for-acting) explains why that phrase matters when you live outside a production center.

## How per diem differs from your salary

It's tempting to add per diem to your weekly pay and call the total "what the job pays." Contracts and unions don't treat it that way, and neither should your budget.

Start with how it's listed. Equity's Single Engagement page says "Salary and per diem are paid weekly," naming them as two separate payments. Your salary pays you for the work. Your per diem is meant to cover the extra cost of living away from home while you do it.

Union dues follow the same split. Equity's [dues instructions](https://www.actorsequity.org/resources/Producers/agreements-and-forms/union-dues-instructions/) say working dues apply to the portion of out-of-town expense or per diem money that exceeds the required Equity minimum. On the screen side, the Media Services guide notes that productions don't owe fringes, the pension and health contributions, on travel and living money. Our guide to [SAG-AFTRA day rates](https://www.offbook.com/blog/sag-aftra-day-rate-explained) explains how fringes work on top of scale.

Taxes are where it gets technical. Publication 463 explains that when an employer pays per diem under what the IRS calls an *accountable plan*, an allowance up to the federal rate, adequately accounted for with any excess returned, isn't reported on your W-2 at all. If the allowance is more than the federal rate, the amount up to the rate is shown with code L in box 12, and the excess goes in box 1 as wages. If the plan isn't accountable, the payments are combined with your wages in box 1.

What's an accountable plan? Publication 463 lists three rules: the expenses have a business connection, you account to your employer for them within a reasonable period, and you return any excess within a reasonable period. Whether a plan is accountable depends on how your employer sets it up, and the right answer for your return depends on your whole year. That's a question for a tax professional, ideally one who works with performers.

Don't count on deducting road costs the production didn't cover, either. Publication 463 notes that with miscellaneous itemized deductions suspended, employees outside a few listed categories may not use Form 2106 for their work expenses. Qualified performing artists are one of those categories, and a tax professional can tell you whether you qualify.

## Why the housing question changes everything

A per diem that only has to cover food is a very different number from one that also has to cover a bed. That's the line to read twice in any touring offer.

It was one of the top issues in the 2023 tour negotiations. [Playbill reported](https://playbill.com/article/actors-equity-may-strike-over-touring-contract) in April 2023 that Equity was seeking increases in per diem to cover housing and food on the road, and that per diem was meant to cover meals and lodging when a performer declined production-provided housing. Equity's executive director, Al Vincent Jr., told [American Theatre](https://www.americantheatre.org/2023/04/03/actors-equity-issues-strike-threat-over-touring-contract/) that cost was no excuse for "inadequate per diem and housing for our members on tour."

A tentative deal followed about ten days later. [Playbill's report on the agreement](https://playbill.com/article/strike-averted-tentative-touring-agreement-reached-by-actors-equity-and-the-broadway-league) quoted the union telling members it had made significant gains on per diem and housing. The lesson for any actor, union or not, is that housing and per diem are negotiated together, and one can't be judged without the other.

Ask these before you compare two offers:

- Is housing provided, and is it a private room or shared?
- If you turn down company housing, does the per diem have to cover your rent on the road?
- Are there cities where housing isn't provided, and what happens then?
- Who pays for travel between cities, and for bags and local transport?

## What to check in your contract or deal memo

Per diem often sits in one line near the end of a deal memo, under extras, travel, or living expenses. Our guide to [reading a deal memo](https://www.offbook.com/blog/what-is-a-deal-memo-for-actors) covers the whole document. For per diem, these are the questions that matter:

1. **What it covers.** Meals only, or meals and housing? Write the answer down if the paper doesn't say.
2. **Which days it's paid.** Work days only, or every day you're away, including travel days and days off on location?
3. **How and when it's paid.** Weekly, daily, up front, or with your paycheck? Cash, check, or direct deposit?
4. **Whether it's at the minimum or above it.** On a union job, the contract sets a floor. Your side can ask for more, the same way you'd negotiate salary.
5. **What "out of town" means here.** If the job is close to the line, ask whether your home address qualifies you before you sign.
6. **Who books travel and lodging.** If the production books it, find out when you'll get the details. If you book it, find out what gets reimbursed and how.

If you have an agent or a union rep, these are their questions too. A short email asking "Can you confirm what the per diem covers and how it's paid?" is normal, and it's far easier to settle before the first day than in week three of a tour.

## Keeping records on the road

Whatever your tax situation turns out to be, good notes make it easier for whoever prepares your return. Publication 463 says that even when using the standard meal allowance, you still need records that prove the time, place, and business purpose of your travel.

It also says to record expenses at or near the time, and that a weekly log covering that week can count as timely. For how long to keep them, it generally says three years from the date you file the return that claims the deduction. A routine that takes ten minutes a week covers most of it:

- Keep one note or spreadsheet per job with the dates you left home, each city, and the dates you returned.
- Save the per diem and pay statements from the production, so you can see what was paid as wages and what wasn't.
- Photograph lodging and travel receipts the day you get them, and add a one-line note on what each was for.
- Keep the contract or deal memo with the records, since it shows what the per diem was meant to cover.

If someone asks what "the federal rate" is, Publication 463 says it can be figured a few ways, including the regular federal per diem rate, the standard meal allowance, and the high-low method. The regular rates for the continental US come from the [GSA per diem rates](https://www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-book/per-diem-rates), which federal agencies use to reimburse employees for lodging and M&IE on official travel, with separate rates for about 300 non-standard areas. Rates for the coming federal fiscal year are typically announced in mid-August. Our guide to [tax deductions for actors](https://www.offbook.com/blog/tax-deductions-for-actors) covers the rest of an actor's paperwork, from headshots to commissions.

## Questions actors ask

### Is per diem taxable for actors?

It depends on how the employer pays it. Publication 463 says per diem under an accountable plan, up to the federal rate, adequately accounted for with any excess returned, isn't reported on your W-2. Amounts above that rate, or paid under a plan that isn't accountable, are reported as wages. This is general information based on IRS Publication 463 for 2025 returns, not tax advice. Ask a tax professional about your own return.

### Do I get per diem if I'm local?

Usually not. Per diem exists because the job keeps you away from home, so "local hire" usually means no travel, housing, or per diem. Each contract defines who counts as out of town, as Equity's 50-mile rule on the Single Engagement Agreement shows.

### Does per diem count toward Equity dues?

Only the part above the minimum. Equity's dues instructions apply working dues to the portion of out-of-town expense or per diem money that exceeds the required Equity minimum, with some waivers on certain contracts.

### Can I negotiate per diem on a non-union job?

Yes. Without a union contract, there's usually no set minimum per diem, so the amount, what it covers, and how it's paid are whatever you and the producer agree to in writing. Get the housing and per diem terms in the same document as your salary.