Employee gifts for sporting events in France: tax-free gifts & vouchers for 2023 Rugby World Cup and Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Incentives are a great way to show your employees your appreciate. They come in different forms: French meal vouchers are one of the most popular incentives in France. Other incentives like vacation vouchers are less common.
Whether an incentive is subject to French social contributions and taxes will depend.
Gifts and gift vouchers for special occasions are exempt from contributions, within the limit of 5% of the monthly social security ceiling (e.g. 183 € in 2023). Under this scheme, events like a marriage, retirement, birth of a child or Christmas are considered eligible occasions. However, sporting events do not fall under this scheme.
Gifts & vouchers for 2023 Rugby World Cup and Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games
To encourage a large participation of spectators in the major sporting events held in France in 2023 and 2024 (Rugby World Cup in 2023 and the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris in 2024), dedicated gifts and vouchers can be offered to employees by their work council or their employer.
Employee gifts for sporting events: conditions & exemption
The limit of exemption for gifts and gift vouchers for these sporting events is set to 25% of the monthly social security ceiling (e.g. 917 € in 2023).
In order to benefit from the exemption, several conditions must be met:
– gift vouchers must be restricted to official shops of the events;
– gifts in kind (entrance tickets, merchandise, etc.) must come from official shops.
If the value of the gift exceeds the limit of exemption, only the exceeding amount will be subject to French social contributions and payroll taxes.
Gifts & vouchers for sporting events: a case study
In 2023, an employee receives from his employer entrance tickets for the 2023 Rugby World Cup worth €350, plus a gift voucher of €200 that can be used in official stores. In 2024, the same employee receives tickets to attend the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games worth €500, plus a gift voucher of €400 to be used in official stores.
In this example, over the two year period, a total of € 1450 will be exempt from social security contributions and taxes.