Meal vouchers

How much in meal vouchers per working day is free of tax and social insurance, what applies to delivery and working from home, and what they are worth against a pay rise, as of 2026.

Definition

Essensgutscheine (meal vouchers) are vouchers the employer hands out on top of the salary. Up to a daily amount they are free of wage tax (§ 3 (1) Z 17 lit b EStG), social insurance (§ 49 (3) Z 12 ASVG) and payroll levies, so they arrive in full. In 2026 that is €8.00 per working day for meals from a restaurant or a delivery service and €2.00 per working day when the voucher also pays for groceries that need not be eaten straight away.

Daily amounts by year

Voucher per working day
2024
2025
2026
2027
Restaurant or delivery
€8.00
€8.00
€8.00
€8.00
Groceries too
€2.00
€2.00
€2.00
€2.00

Until 30 June 2020, €4.40 and €1.10 applied under the wage tax guidelines (Rz 93); since 1 July 2020 the statute sets €8.00 and €2.00.

The rules

  • Per working day: The daily amount is free only for days actually worked. Holidays, sick leave and weekends get no free voucher. For a five-day week the tax office counts 220 working days a year, so at most €1,760.00 a year.
  • One voucher a day: The two amounts are alternatives, not a top-up: one voucher per working day, so at most €8.00, not €8.00 plus €2.00. Which amount applies depends on what the voucher can be spent on.
  • Above the limit: Anything above the daily amount is a taxable benefit in kind and goes through payroll with the salary.
  • No cash: The vouchers must not be exchangeable for money. A meal allowance paid in cash is ordinary salary, fully liable to tax and social insurance.
  • On top of the salary: Only vouchers the employer gives voluntarily on top are tax-free. Given in place of part of the salary, they are a salary conversion and stay taxable.

Example: gross €4,230/month (Vienna, 2026)

The gross is the median full-time salary 2026 (forecast), plus vouchers of €8.00 on 220 working days. The last two rows show what a pay rise bringing the same net would cost.

Item
Calculation
Amount
Vouchers a year
220 × €8.00
€1,760.00
Of which net
no wage tax, no social insurance
€1,760.00
Cost to the employer
no payroll levies
€1,760.00
Same net as salary: gross
14 × €236.55
€3,311.70
Same net as salary: employer cost
with payroll levies
€4,295.72

Frequently asked questions

No. One voucher per working day applies. If it can only be spent on meals from a restaurant or a delivery service, €8.00 is free; if it also covers groceries, only €2.00. €10.00 a day tax-free is not possible.
Yes. Since 2022 the statute also names delivery services and no longer requires the meal to be eaten at the workplace or in the restaurant. So it may be delivered and eaten at home. What counts is the working day, not the place.
The part above €8.00 is a benefit in kind: it counts towards taxable and contributable pay and raises wage tax and social insurance. The first €8.00 stay free.
For both sides. In the example above, €1,760.00 of vouchers a year bring as much net as €3,311.70 more gross salary, which would cost the employer €4,295.72 with payroll levies. On the other hand, the vouchers do not count towards the pension, unemployment benefit or severance, because no contributions are paid on them.
€4.40 per working day for restaurants and €1.10 for groceries, under the wage tax guidelines. Today's amounts apply since 1 July 2020.

See also

Try it in the gross-to-net calculator

Sources: § 3 Abs 1 Z 17 EStG (RIS) idF BGBl. I Nr. 48/2020 (ab 1.7.2020) und BGBl. I Nr. 227/2021 (ab 1.1.2022), § 49 Abs 3 Z 12 ASVG idF BGBl. I Nr. 54/2020 (ab 1.7.2020), BMF „Lohnsteuerrichtlinien 2002“ Rz 93 (Werte bis Juni 2020), § 41 Abs 4 lit c FLAG, § 5 Abs 2 KommStG.