Company director? Optimise your salary with meal vouchers

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Meal vouchers are extremely popular in Belgium: around half of all workers enjoy this extra-legal benefit. The reason is simple: meal vouchers are advantageous for both employer and employee.

Are you self-employed with your own company? You can give yourself meal vouchers to maximise your income. And because, in your own company, you’re both employer and employee, you benefit twice from the tax advantage.

Meal vouchers for the self-employed

A meal voucher has a maximum value of €8 per day worked, with a maximum of €6.91 paid by the employer and a minimum of €1.09 by the employee. The value per meal voucher can be lower, but to maximise your own remuneration, it's best to opt for the maximum amount. 

Do you have one or more employees in your company? If so, you’re obliged to give them meal vouchers too, and the value of those meal vouchers cannot be lower than the meal vouchers you give yourself. 

If implemented correctly, meal vouchers are a win-win situation. They cost significantly less than a salary increase of the same amount. However, they’re not part of the base salary, and are only issued for days actually worked, which means no meal vouchers for days of absence, such as for illness or vacation. This makes them an attractive employee benefit for motivating staff and reducing absenteeism.

Meal voucher companies in Belgium

All the practical arrangements concerning meal vouchers are handled by one of the officially recognised issuing companies. Pluxee, Edenred, and Monizze are currently the main providers in Belgium.

These companies help you with the implementation and admin, such as drafting an agreement for meal vouchers within your company. And of course, these meal vouchers also need to be included on each month's payslip. Once everything is set up, they send you an invoice every month and credit the meal vouchers to your meal voucher account.

Not for self-employed sole traders

If you are self-employed as a sole trader (eenmanszaak/personne physique), bad news: you can’t take advantage of the meal voucher system. It’s only possible if you’re self-employed with your own company. This is because a self-employed sole trader doesn’t pay themselves an official salary.

Looking to optimise your taxes as a self-employed sole trader? Take a look at deductibles.be, where you'll find plenty of tips and advice.

The tax advantages of meal vouchers

A meal voucher worth €8.00 per working day represents – if we consider an average of 20 working days per month – €160.00 in meal vouchers per month.

Of this amount, the employer pays a maximum of €6.91 per check, i.e. €138.20 for 20 days of work.

The employee pays a minimum of €1.09 per meal voucher, i.e. €21.80 for 20 days of work.

Tax advantage for the employee

This represents a net benefit of €138.20 for the employee (you!). That's net purchasing power – because it's exempt from social security contributions and taxes, which you can use entirely for food.

So, by purchasing meal vouchers, you, as a salaried company director, receive €138.20 extra net per month from your company.

Tax advantage for the employer

As company director, you’re not just the beneficiary, since it’s you who pays your own salary and meal vouchers. 

On the net amount of €138.20, there are no employer contributions, no social security contributions, and no personal income tax to pay. Exactly the opposite of what would happen if you gave yourself a salary increase. In fact, when you increase your own salary or that of an employee, it quickly costs you up to three times as much. 

The only additional costs are the fees charged by the issuing company. These fees depend on the provider and the services offered, but they’re minimal compared to the tax advantages meal vouchers offer. In any case, you receive an invoice for the admin fees, which means you can deduct them as expenses.

How do I record my meal vouchers in Accountable?

Follow the steps below to accurately record the meal voucher invoices for your company:

• Add the invoice in the ‘Expenses’ screen.
• Select the category ‘Meal vouchers’ and enter the correct amount.

⚠️ Important: You can only deduct €2 per meal voucher. Therefore, don’t enter the total amount of the invoice. If the invoice is for 20 vouchers of €8 each, you can only deduct €40 (20 x €2).

• Select 0% in the ‘VAT’ section (meal vouchers are exempt from VAT).
• Add a second item and select the category ‘Administrative fees for meal vouchers’. 
• Enter the admin fees (admin fees are subject to 21% VAT).
• Click ‘Save’.

If you have any further questions about this topic, don't hesitate to contact Accountable's tax coaches. They’ll be happy to help! If you’re a self-employed sole trader looking to optimise your tax situation, take a look at deductibles.be. You'll find plenty of tips there to ensure you’re not missing out on any deductible expenses.

Author - Valesca Wilms

As content marketing lead at Accountable Belgium, Valesca writes about freelancing, self-employment, and taxes based on her own experience as a freelancer.

Who is Valesca ?