Food Subsidy 2025: Ultimate Guide for Employers

More than just lunch — How to become a hero for your team with the meal allowance

The 2025 meal subsidy is a state-sponsored additional benefit, which allows employers to subsidize their employees' meals with up to 7.50€ per day with tax relief. It's a win-win situation: more net for your team, less non-wage costs for you.

In today's competition for the best talent, every gesture counts. A raise is good, but what if you could show your team on a daily basis that you're thinking about their well-being? Right here comes the Meal allowance into the game. It is much more than just financial support for lunch. It is a strategic tool that helps you stay ahead of the “War for Talents”, increase motivation and establish a culture of appreciation.

Imagine giving your employees the freedom to decide for themselves what they want every day — salad from their favorite bistro, quick shopping at the supermarket for a break working from home, or the coffee and sandwich from the bakery around the corner. With the food allowance, this freedom becomes a daily reality. You will not only become an attractive employer, but also a real everyday hero for your team and at the same time strengthen the local economy in your region.

This guide is your comprehensive handbook for the 2025 meal subsidy. We'll show you everything you need to know: the latest figures and legal regulations, the smartest tax saving models and how to implement the benefit as simply and easily as possible. Get ready to make a difference.

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What exactly is the meal allowance and how does it work?

The meal allowance, often also known as a meal allowance, is a voluntary, tax-advantaged allowance from you as an employer for your employees' meals on working days. Legally speaking, this is a so-called “monetary advantage.” But unlike a direct salary increase, which is subject to full tax and social security contributions, the legislator has created special rules here that make the meal allowance extremely attractive for both sides.

The system is brilliantly simple and is based on two central components, which together result in the maximum subsidy.

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The two components of the grant

To understand the full potential of the meal subsidy, we need to break it down into its two core components:

1. The official benefit in kind: This is an amount set by the state and represents the tax value of a meal provided by the employer. It forms the basis of the subsidy. For 2025, this value is 4,40€ for lunch or dinner. This portion is generally regarded as income and is generally taxed as a lump sum by the employer.
2. The tax-free employer subsidy: In addition to the official benefit in kind, as an employer, you can pay a further amount of up to €3.10 Add per meal. This top-up amount is completely free of tax and social security contributions — both for you and for your employees.

Taken together, these two components result in the maximum possible daily subsidy of €7.50 (€4.40+€3.10).

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The legal basis: Safe and reliable

The stability and reliability of the meal allowance is enshrined in law, which gives you planning security as an employer. The amount of benefits in kind is determined annually by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs in Social Security Pay Ordinance (SvEV) redefined. This adjustment is based on developments in consumer prices and ensures that the benefit maintains its purchasing power — it is therefore virtually protected against inflation. While a fixed salary increase loses value due to inflation, the meal subsidy grows with the cost of living and directly cushions the rising food prices for your employees.

The exact tax treatment is set out in Income Tax Act (EStG), especially in § 8 para. 2 p. 6, as well as in Payroll Tax Guidelines (LStR) regulated in detail. For 2025, the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) confirmed the application of the new values in an official letter dated December 10, 2024, which underpins the current figures.

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What are the new values for the 2025 meal subsidy?

For the 2025 meal allowance, the maximum daily subsidy is €7.50 per employee. This amount consists of the official benefit in kind of €4.40 and a tax-free employer subsidy of €3.10. With 15 working days, this amounts to up to 112.50€ net extra for your team.

The annual adjustment of benefits in kind reflects the increased cost of living and makes the 2025 meal subsidy even more valuable. Here are the official figures in detail:

• Payment in kind for lunch or dinner: 4,40€ 
• Payment in kind for breakfast: €2.30 
• Maximum tax-free employer subsidy: €3.10
• Maximum total subsidy per day (lunch/dinner): 7,50€ (€4.40+€3.10)
• Maximum monthly amount (for 15 days): €112.50 (15×7,50€)
• Total monthly value for meals (calendar day): 333,00€

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Overview of benefits in kind 2024 vs. 2025

This overview makes it clear how legislators are continuously adapting the value of this benefit to economic reality.

How will the food subsidy be taxed in 2025? (And how does it remain completely tax-free?)

This is the crucial part of taking full advantage of the financial benefit of the meal subsidy. As an employer, you generally have two strategic ways of granting the subsidy. Your choice depends on whether you want to maximize the benefit for your employees or minimize your own costs. It is therefore not only a technical decision, but also a cultural one that reflects your corporate philosophy.

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Model 1: The standard regulation with lump sum taxation (maximum generosity)

This is the most common and employee-friendly method.

• Here's how it works: As an employer, you pay tax on the official benefit in kind of 4.40€. This is done with a flat tax rate of 25%, plus solidarity surcharge and, if applicable, church tax.
• The advantage for your team: For your employees, the entire subsidy of up to €7.50 per day is completely free of tax and social security contributions. The money arrives 1:1 as a net advantage and ensures maximum enjoyment and appreciation.
• The “downside” for you: You bear a low tax burden for the benefit in kind. However, this is significantly lower than the non-wage costs with a comparable salary increase.

With this model, you're signaling: “We'll take care of everything so you can enjoy the full advantage.” It is a clear investment in employee satisfaction.

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Model 2: The completely tax-free variant (maximum cost optimization)

If you want to make the meal allowance completely cost-neutral for yourself as an employer (apart from the subsidy yourself), there is also a solution for that.

• The condition: Your employee must pay a personal contribution for their meal that is at least as high as the official benefit in kind of 4.40€.
• Here's how it works: If the price of the meal exceeds the benefit in kind, you can refund the difference up to the maximum amount. For example, if lunch costs €8.50, the employee makes a verifiable contribution of €4.40. You can then refund him the remaining €4.10 (€8.50 - €4.40). This amount of 4.10€ is then for both sides — Employers and employees — completely exempt from tax and social security contributions.
• The advantage for you: There is no tax burden on you.
• The downside for your team: The employee potentially receives a lower subsidy and must always ensure that their own contribution is high enough. This may be seen as less generous.

Modern digital benefit providers often allow you to flexibly choose between these models or even adjust them individually for each employee.

The 2025 meal subsidy in practice — three calculation examples

This table translates the theory into everyday scenarios and shows the financial impact of the two models in direct comparison.

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What benefits do you bring into play as an employer with the meal allowance?

The meal allowance is not just a nice extra, but a highly effective strategic tool with tangible benefits for your company.

Huge cost savings compared to a salary increase

This is the most compelling financial benefit. If you want to give an employee €112.50 more net via a classic salary increase, this will cost you significantly more as an employer due to non-wage costs (approx. 20-21%). At the same time, employees often receive only around half after deduction of taxes and social security contributions. The food subsidy avoids this inefficiency. The amount is (almost) 1:1 and your costs are significantly lower.

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Strengthening your employer branding and employee loyalty

In the battle for skilled workers, it is often the smart benefits that make the difference. The meal allowance is a sign of appreciation that can be experienced every day. It shows that you care about the wellbeing of your team, every single working day. This strengthens the emotional connection to your company and makes you a more attractive employer.

Promoting health and wellbeing

A healthy diet is the basis for concentration and performance. By financially supporting high-quality and healthy meals, you are investing directly in the health and productivity of your team. You enable your employees to eat consciously and well instead of turning to unhealthy alternatives due to lack of time or money.

Minimal administration — with the right solution

The days of paper vouchers and complicated lists are gone. Modern digital solutions do almost all the work for you. The document verification, the calculation of subsidies and the preparation for payroll accounting run fully automatically in the background. This massively relieves your HR department and gives it time for more strategically important tasks.

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Why do employees love the meal allowance?

For your employees, the meal allowance is one of the most popular and noticeable benefits of all. The reasons for this are obvious.

More net of gross — it's easy

The most obvious benefit is the financial one. Having up to 112.50€ more per month in your wallet, which can be used directly for a daily necessity — food — is an enormous added value. Since this amount arrives without deductions, the effect is immediate and significant compared to a salary increase.

Maximum flexibility and personal freedom

This is where a modern food allowance unleashes its true superpower. Employees are no longer tied to a canteen or a limited selection of partner restaurants. They enjoy absolute freedom to decide for themselves where and what they want to eat. This flexibility is crucial because it adapts to individual needs and modern working life:

• In the office: A quick lunch in your favorite bistro, a salad from the bar or the dish from the food truck.
• When working from home: Shopping at the supermarket for a home-cooked lunch or ordering from a local delivery service.
• On the go: The sandwich from the bakery on the way to the next appointment.

This freedom of choice is an expression of trust and a real motivational booster.

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Supporting the local economy — including a feeling of good

A smartly designed meal allowance can do more than just fill your stomach — it can also make sense. When your employees have the freedom to spend their money with small, local vendors in their neighborhood, every lunch purchase becomes an active contribution to the community. They support the café on the corner, the family-run snack bar and the regional supermarket. As a result, your employees become little “Regional Heroes” themselves, which gives the benefit a positive, sustainable dimension and strengthens the feeling of being part of something bigger.

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Simplicity and modern comfort

A benefit is only as good as how it is handled. Modern digital solutions make it easy to use the meal allowance. No more cumbersome collecting and submitting paper food stamps. The process is simple: Take a photo of the document with your smartphone, upload it to an app, and you're done. Reimbursement will be made automatically with the next payslip. This seamless and uncomplicated process ensures that the benefit is gladly and actively used.

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How can you introduce the food subsidy in the company?

The type of implementation decisively determines the success and acceptance of the meal subsidy in your team. A complicated process leads to frustration and low usage, while a smart, digital solution maximizes enthusiasm.

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The old way: paper food stamps

Classic food stamps or paper restaurant checks were the standard for a long time, but are now obsolete. The drawbacks are significant:

• High administrative costs: You must order the brands, store them securely, distribute them to every employee on a monthly basis and document the issue exactly.
• Inflexibility: The brands can often only be redeemed with a limited network of acceptance partners, which severely limits freedom of choice.
• Not sustainable: Producing and shipping paper stamps consumes resources unnecessarily.³¹
• Risk of loss: If a brand is lost, it is gone. A refund is usually not possible.

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The modern way: digital solutions

Digital systems are the gold standard today. They are efficient, flexible and secure. There are two main approaches here:

1. App-based document submission: This is the most flexible method. Your employees first pay for their meal themselves using any means of payment (card, cash, etc.). They then take a photo of the receipt and upload it via an app. A specialized provider then automatically checks the document for all tax requirements (GoBD compliance) and prepares the data for an easy refund via your payslip.
2. Prepaid cash payment cards: Here, employees receive a rechargeable card. The decisive difference lies in the type of card:

• Systems with limited networks: Some providers rely on cards that only work in a closed circle of contract restaurants or shops. This limits freedom again.
• The “Hero” solution — Open Debit Card Systems: The superior option is a digital debit card based on a global network such as Mastercard. Such a card will come in handy everywhere accepted wherever card payment is possible: in every restaurant, supermarket, bakery and delivery service. This offers the ultimate form of flexibility and freedom for your employees and combines the benefits of both worlds: easy payment without prepayment and universal acceptance.

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The benefits of a smart digital solution

Choosing a modern, digital provider is a strategic decision for efficiency and security.

• Absolute legal certainty: Automated document verification and digital, GoBD-compliant archiving take away your concerns about operational audits. You can be sure that all tax requirements are met.²¹
• Maximum efficiency: The administrative workload for your HR department is reduced to a minimum. No manual verification, no lists, no paperwork. This saves valuable time and resources.
• Regionality as your superpower: This is a unique added value that you can actively shape. With a flexible digital solution, you not only enable your team to eat well, but also to support the local economy right on their doorstep. The food subsidy is thus transformed from a pure social benefit to a powerful statement of sustainability, community and local solidarity. You don't just decide that you offer a benefit, but also where This benefit has a positive effect.

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What rules do you absolutely have to follow for the tax-free meal allowance?

In order for the meal subsidy to fully develop its tax benefits and to ensure that you are on the safe side during a tax audit, a number of clear rules must be observed. A good digital solution does most of the work of checking these rules for you, but it's important that you know the basics.

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Your 2025 compliance checklist

• Working day: The subsidy may only be granted for days on which the employee actually works. Vacation, sick or public holidays are excluded.

• The 15-day simplification rule: In order to minimize administrative costs, the tax office allows a lump sum acceptance. You can grant up to 15 meal allowances per month without having to prove the exact days of absence of each employee individually. Only when you grant more than 15 grants per month do you have to carry out an exact attendance check.

• Additionality requirement: In principle, the meal allowance must be granted “in addition to the salary owed anyway.” A simple conversion of an existing salary claim is generally not permitted. The benefit must be added as a real extra. A salary conversion is only possible under very strict, contractually defined conditions and should definitely be coordinated with a tax advisor.
• Obligation to provide evidence (documentation required): The purchase of the meal must be proven by a receipt (e.g. receipt, invoice). These documents must be kept digitally and audit-proof by the employer for 6 years.
• What counts as a “meal”? : Foods that are suitable for immediate consumption or are typically eaten during a break from work are eligible for reimbursement. These include dishes in restaurants, salads, sandwiches, but also grocery items from the supermarket that are combined to make a meal. However, weekly shopping for the whole family is not covered.
• What is excluded? : Items that are not food (e.g. household goods), alcohol and tobacco products are explicitly non-refundable. However, non-alcoholic drinks are refundable when purchased with a meal.
• Validity when working from home: The meal allowance can also be granted without restrictions on days when employees work from home. The rules remain the same.
• Difference from business trip: An employee cannot receive a meal allowance and tax-free food allowances (expenses) for work abroad on the same day. The systems are mutually exclusive. To make a clear distinction, the following flat rates apply for domestic business trips in 2025:

• Absence of 8 to 24 hours: 15€
• Arrival and departure days: 15€
• Absence of more than 24 hours: 30€.

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Make the difference — your way to a smart food subsidy 2025

The 2025 meal subsidy is much more than a small gift. It is a highly efficient tool with which you can offer your team real financial relief and daily appreciation — at a fraction of the cost of a comparable salary increase.

You've seen how the new values for 2025 make the benefit even more attractive and how flexibly you can adapt the tax structure to your corporate philosophy. The key to success lies in choosing the right implementation. A modern, digital and flexible solution transforms this benefit from an administrative task into a powerful tool for your employer branding, employee retention and the promotion of a healthy corporate culture.

The future of employee benefits lies in offers that are flexible, simple and meaningful. The meal allowance meets all of these criteria. It is a direct investment in the happiness and well-being of your team and at the same time a commitment to strengthening your local community.

Are you ready to inspire your team and revitalize your region? Discover how easy it can be to become a benefit hero with the right partner. Make the food allowance your superpower for 2025.

testimonials

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