Free snacks, canteen subsidies, company parties – all of this has tax pitfalls. Which rules apply, where the exemption limits are and how HR and Payroll avoid typical mistakes.
Butter pretzels for a meeting or mozzarella sticks for a meeting: If an employer gives snacks to teams or the entire workforce, the employees usually like it. At the same time, a sense of proportion is required here: When providing meals to employees free of charge or at a reduced price, all sorts of tax and social security regulations must be taken into account in Germany.
This is because the legislature sees free food as an amenity that, in certain cases, can be considered taxable wages (so-called monetary benefit). Even at work lunches. Companies should therefore pay close attention to the assessment and billing of these benefits in order to avoid any queries or even additional payments during tax audits.
