Tax-Free Payments (Steuerfreie Bezüge, § 3)

Job ticket, childcare subsidy and employee profit share, additional to salary, as of 2026.

Definition

§ 3 (1) EStG makes certain voluntary employer benefits tax-free, provided they are granted in addition to salary (no salary conversion). They are not part of gross pay but add to your net on top. The most common: the public-transport ticket (§ 26 Z 5 lit b EStG), the childcare subsidy up to €2,000 per child and the employee profit share up to €3,000 a year (2026), plus meal vouchers and gifts. Whether social insurance falls away too is decided separately by § 49 (3) ASVG.

Caps by year

Benefit
2024
2025
2026
2027
Public-transport ticket (§ 26 Z 5 lit b)
ticket value
ticket value
ticket value
ticket value
Childcare per child and year (§ 3 (1) Z 13 lit b)
€2,000
€2,000
€2,000
€2,000
Profit share per year (§ 3 (1) Z 35)
€3,000
€3,000
€3,000
€3,000
Meal voucher per working day (§ 3 (1) Z 17 lit b)
€8
€8
€8
€8
Gifts in kind per year (§ 3 (1) Z 14)
€186
€186
€186
€186

Wage tax and social insurance

Benefit
Lohnsteuer
Social insurance (§ 49 (3) ASVG)
Public-transport ticket
free
free (Z 20)
Childcare subsidy
free
free (Z 11 lit d)
Employee profit share
free
liable
Meal vouchers
free
free (Z 12)
Gifts and company events
free
free (Z 17)

Note: the employee profit share is only free of wage tax, but liable to social insurance and payroll levies. All of them require the benefit to be granted to all employees or defined groups, on top of existing pay.

See also

Try it in the gross-to-net calculator Try it in the employer-cost calculator
  • § 3 Abs 1 Z 13 lit b, Z 14, Z 17 lit b und Z 35 EStG
  • § 26 Z 5 lit b EStG
  • § 49 Abs 3 Z 11 lit d, Z 12, Z 17 und Z 20 ASVG (RIS)