- The amount of the financial contribution for meals shall be determined by the basis value of the meal voucher provided by the employer to the employee or by the basis of the value the employer continues to provide to those employees who did not choose the financial contribution. Therefore, the amount of the financial allowance for meals should be the same as the amount the employer contributes to the meal voucher to other employees.
- Simultaneously, for the financial allowance, as well as for the meal voucher, the condition is, that the amount of the contribution must be at least EUR 2.11 (55% of the minimum value of the meal voucher, ie for 2021 from the amount of EUR 3.83), and up to 2.81 euros per working shift (55% of the meal provided for a business trip lasting 5 to 12 hours). The financial allowance for meals shall be provided under the same conditions as a meal voucher with regard to the amount of the allowance from the employer, his salary, etc.The financial contribution for meals shall be provided to the employee in advance. This means that the employee must receive the financial contribution (as well as meal vouchers), not later than the 1st working day of the month for which the financial contribution is assigned.
The financial contribution provided under the above-mentioned conditions represents a tax expense for the employer and at the same time an income exempt from tax from the employee’s dependent activity.
- If the employer provides a financial contribution for meals later than the 1st working day of the month, the allowance relating to the working days before the financial contribution was credited shall be considered as a taxable income of the employee and will not be considered as a tax expense. This means, that if the employer provides a financial contribution on the 15th day of the month for the current month, the amount of the contribution relating to the first 14 days of the month will be the taxable income of the employee which are treated as a non-tax expense.
- The financial contribution for meals provided from the social fund that is above the limit of the Labor Code shall be exempt from tax for the employee. However, the financial contribution for meals provided to the employee from the employer’s resources above the limit of the Labor Code shall be a part of his taxable wage. Both, the employer and the employee, shall pay social and health insurance from this amount. For the employer, it shall be treated as a tax expense if the conditions for recognition of the contribution for income from the dependent activity are met (Section 19 (1), second sentence of the Income Tax Act).
