SECTION 1 -

chose to distribute meal vouchers to only a part of its employees on the basis of non‐
discriminatory criteria, so long as the non‐beneficiary employees receive an
equivalent benefit.
• The employer may distribute only one voucher per employee per day.
• There are no applicable regulations that set the minimum and maximum value of the
meal vouchers, and so the employer is free to fix the face value of the meal voucher.
However, the face value is effectively limited because the tax and social security
charge exemption is capped for the employer.
The employees' use of meal vouchers is subject to the following regulations:
• Only the employee that has been given the voucher from his or her employer can use
it: meal vouchers are personal to the employee whose name appears on the back of
the voucher.
• Vouchers cannot be used beyond their expiration date (one year after the date of
issue). However, during the 15‐day period following the expiration date, the
employee may exchange unused vouchers with the employer for the same amount of
vouchers for the next year. The employer can return the unused vouchers to the
issuer within a period of 30 days after expiration for a refund of the face value less the
customer commission.
• Only one meal voucher can be used to pay for a meal, or ready‐to‐eat food items like
fruit and vegetables, although in practice, two vouchers are sometimes accepted.
Affiliated merchants are not permitted to give cash back for unspent amounts.
• Meal vouchers are valid during the workweek only and cannot be used on Sundays or
public holidays, unless the employer’s specific authorization is noted on the meal
voucher.
• Meal vouchers may only be used in a limited geographic areas: the county
(départment) of their workplace and neighboring counties, unless the voucher
specifies otherwise.
Establishments entitled to receive meal vouchers are restaurants (fast‐food or traditional) and
similar food service businesses approved by the National Commission for Meal Vouchers (Commission
National des Titres Restaurant, or CNTR) as well as fruit and vegetable sellers for immediately consumable
food.
Tax exemptions and reductions in social security contributions for the employer
Meal vouchers are co‐financed by the employer (and sometimes the works council) as well as
the employee. The employer's contribution cannot be lower than 50% or higher than 60% of the face
value of the voucher, before taking into consideration the potential contribution of the works council.
Employers violating these limits lose their right to the income tax and income tax exemptions and the
reduction in their contribution to employee social security charges.
Up to a certain ceiling, the employer's contribution is exempt from income taxes. This limit
has been recalculated once a year since January 1, 2006 proportionally to changes in upper limit of
the first income tax bracket. The exemption ceiling was fixed at €5.21 on January 1, 2010. The
employer is free to increase its contribution beyond this ceiling, provided that the 50% ‐ 60% limits
are respected, but amounts above the €5.21 limit are taxable to the employer.
Tax exemptions for the employee
For the employee, the portion of the value of the meal voucher that is paid for by the
employer, within the regulatory limits (between 50% and 60% of the face value), constitutes a tax‐
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