Tax-free employee gift cards, by country

Gift cards up to £50 per occasion are exempt from Income Tax and NIC if they meet all four Trivial Benefits conditions.

Up to €200 (5 % of the 2026 monthly Social Security ceiling) per employee per recognised event is exempt from URSSAF charges.

Gift cards to employees run through the WKR vrije ruimte (2.00% of payroll up to €400k, 1.18% above, 2026). The €25 kleine geschenkenregeling applies only to physical gifts in natura — gift cards do not qualify. €227 is the BUA VAT-deduction cap for client gifts, not an income-tax exemption.

Belgian employers can give a tax-free gift voucher of €40 per worker per year for the end-of-year cluster (Saint-Nicolas + Christmas + New Year combined) plus €40 per dependent child. Separate caps apply for weddings (€245), honorific distinctions (€120/year) and retirement (€40 per year of service, min €120, max €1,000).

Irish employers can give each employee up to five non-cash benefits per year, with a combined annual value of up to €1,500, free of Income Tax, USC and PRSI under the Small Benefit Exemption.

Gift cards to US employees are taxable wages regardless of amount — the de minimis fringe exemption explicitly does not cover cash equivalents. Report on W-2 and withhold federal, FICA and state.

Gift cards up to €50 per employee per month are tax-free if the card is a closed or controlled-loop voucher under § 2 Abs. 1 Nr. 10 ZAG.

In Austria, non-cash gifts to employees — including gift cards — are exempt from wage tax and social security up to €186 per employee per year, with no requirement to be tied to a company event. A separate €365/year covers participation in a company event, and Dienstjubiläum gifts add €186 per anniversary year.

In Switzerland, non-cash gifts to employees — including retailer gift cards — up to CHF 600 per calendar year do not need to be declared on the salary certificate (Lohnausweis). The CHF 600 is an annual per-employee ceiling under Rz. 72 of the ESTV Wegleitung 2026, effective 1 January 2026.

In Poland, gift cards funded from the company social fund (ZFŚS) are exempt from personal income tax (PIT) up to PLN 1,000 per employee per year (since 2024), subject to the ZFŚS social-criterion test. Money-loaded prepaid cards qualify; paper talony may not.

Sweden permits three separate categories of tax-free employer gifts (2026): julgåva SEK 600 incl. VAT per year, jubileumsgåva SEK 1,800 incl. VAT for a company anniversary at multiples of 25 years, and minnesgåva SEK 15,000 incl. VAT for a significant birthday, 20+ years of service, or retirement (max twice per employee). These are separate categories, not a single per-event cap.

Spain has no general tax-free allowance for corporate gift cards. Gift cards to employees are treated as remuneration in kind (retribución en especie) and are fully subject to IRPF and social-security contributions.

Under art. 51, comma 3 TUIR, non-cash benefits — including gift cards — given to employees are exempt from income tax and social security up to €1,000 per employee per year (€2,000 for employees with dependent children), in force for 2025–2027. The ordinary baseline outside this temporary regime is €258.23/year.