Meal card allowance: Advantages for companies and employees

2 de May, 2023

Meal allowance is a social benefit that companies can grant to employees in order to guarantee their access to a nutritious and decent meal during their working day.

Although it is not mandatory, most companies choose to grant it as a supplement to employees’ pay. And they can do this in two ways:

• In cash (together with the monthly salary);
• In voucher or card form.

Meal card characteristics

The meal card is an electronic card loaded by the company with the amount of meal allowance to be given to the employee each month.

This amount is available to be used for food expenses and, if it is not spent in the month in which it was allocated, it accumulates for the following month.

Providing meal allowances by card is an increasingly popular option for companies, as it has several advantages over cash allowances. One of the main ones is the inherent tax benefits , both for the company and the employee. But there are others. Check them out.

Advantages for the company

• Total exemption from TSU up to a maximum of €10.20/day (which can result in savings of up to €241/year per employee). You can do your simulation here.
• Increased employee satisfaction and motivation, thanks to higher net disposable income.
• Improved employee value proposition (EVP) as a result of this extra salary benefit.

Advantages for the employee

• Total exemption from TSU and IRS up to a maximum of €10.20/day, which contributes to greater purchasing power for food expenses.
• Improved quality of life, health and well-being, resulting from the use of the subsidy amount for meals or food.

Example: Let’s say you give an employee €10.20/day as a meal allowance (x 22 working days x 11 months). If this amount is paid in cards, the employee receives an annual amount of €2,468.40. But if it’s paid in cash, the amount can be as little as €2 153.32 (with an IRS rate of 21% and a TSU rate of 11%). In short, the employee receives an extra €315.08 net per year in meal cards.

This greater liquidity for spending on food can be of fundamental importance at a time when rising inflation is affecting families’ purchasing power, especially for foodstuffs.

Did you already know about the advantages of giving your meal allowance by card?

If you’re considering this solution for your company, Edenred Refeição has even more advantages, such as the fact that you can sign up without any commitment or loyalty, you can personalize the cards with your company’s visual identity, you have access to a dedicated customer support line and much more.

Note: Starting from July 2023, the Euroticket Refeição benefit has been renamed Edenred Refeição.

Article updated in December 2024 (to take account of the new meal allowance rates in force).