Tax treatment under the Corporate Income Tax Act (CITA) of social expenditures provided in kind, in the form of electronic meal vouchers.
- Meal vouchers on electronic media as social benefits
- Social benefits provided in kind include meal vouchers on electronic media (Art. 204, para. 1, item 2, letter “v” of the Corporate Tax Act – CTA).
- Vouchers are not electronic money, but payment instruments usable only for meals in restaurants, eateries, or stores (Art. 2, para. 1, item 11, letter “v” of the Payment Services and Payment Systems Act – PSPSA).
- Tax exemption on expenses
- Up to BGN 200 per month per employee, vouchers are tax-free (Art. 209a CTA), provided that:
- The employee’s base monthly salary is not lower than the average monthly salary for the previous 3 months.
- The employer has no outstanding public obligations at the end of the month.
- Vouchers are provided through an operator authorized by the Minister of Finance.
- Requirement for equal availability
- Vouchers must be available to all employees, including those under management or control contracts.
- Main approaches:
- Fixed monthly amount for all employees.
- Based on worked days/hours, with the same voucher value per day/hour.
- Mixed approach – fixed part + part proportional to worked days, maximum BGN 200/month.
- Vouchers can be provided proportionally to the employment period within the month.
- Vouchers already loaded after termination are not returned (Art. 40, para. 8, Ordinance No. 7).
- Choice between different social benefits
- If employees can choose between meal vouchers, sports cards, or health insurance:
- The right of choice must be clearly documented.
- The benefit amounts must be comparable.
- Equal accessibility is considered fulfilled if everyone has the same access to choose.
- Vouchers for temporary staff
- A company providing temporary work is considered the employer under the Labor Code, but the entity liable for the tax treatment of vouchers is the company that accounts for them as social expenses.