Fuel vouchers as non-monetary benefits
January 8, 2011 | 30,00 EUR | answered by Steuerbera Sigrid Schwartzkopff
Dear Sir or Madam,
My concern is as follows:
I would like to occasionally give my employees a fuel voucher as a bonus. As a non-cash benefit up to a maximum of 44 EUR, this should be tax and social security contributions free. When researching the topic on the internet, I found lists of conditions that need to be met for recognition by the tax office, but I also came across articles that portrayed the implementation as very difficult.
What I read was later confirmed in conversations with more than 10 gas station operators in my city: None of them were willing to take on the extra work involved in issuing fuel vouchers.
As a last resort, I read a recommendation in a tradesman forum that the employer should hand over the fuel voucher to the employee, but should accompany them to the gas station and pay for the fuel themselves - preferably with witnesses.
My question now is whether this recommendation is truly "watertight"?
If that is the case, I would also like to know if, as the employer, I can instruct employee A to pay for the fuel for employee B. If this is possible, can I also instruct employee B to pay for the fuel for employee A? And can I send employee C as a witness, have them pay for fuel on behalf of employee B and have it witnessed by employee A?
I would appreciate your advice on this matter.
Kind regards, Wolfgang Ballweg
Dear Mr. Ballweg,
First of all, thank you for your inquiry, which I would be happy to answer based on the information provided and considering your efforts within the scope of an initial consultation. The response is based on the description of the situation. Missing or incorrect information about the actual circumstances can influence the legal outcome.
Low-value benefits in kind do not constitute taxable wages subject to social security contributions, as long as a threshold of €44.00 per employee and month is not exceeded. However, the provision of a goods voucher does not constitute a benefit in kind if an amount to be credited or a maximum amount is indicated in addition to the description of the goods to be provided (income tax guidelines R 8.1 (1)).
Since vouchers from third parties usually indicate the value of the voucher, these vouchers constitute a taxable benefit in kind subject to tax and social security contributions.
Therefore, the option of handing the voucher to the employee and driving to the gas station for payment, or assigning an employee for this purpose, may not be possible.
I hope that this information has provided you with a sufficient overview of the situation within the scope of your efforts and this initial consultation.
Best regards,
Tax consultant
Sigrid Schwartzkopff
Müllerstr. 56-58
13349 Berlin
schwartzkopff@web.de
