Are Food Vouchers Taxable for Employees When Shown on Salary Slips?

Hi,

I understand that food/meal vouchers are fully exempted from FBT when shown in an employee's salary slip. However, is the amount taxable for the employee?

Kindly advise.

Regards,
Ramesh Kannan G

Ramesh,

I am not answering your question directly... Sodexo charges Service Tax of 2.5% and a Service Charge of 12.24% on the Service tax. In addition to these, there are delivery charges too, which are negotiable based on the volume of the order. Is your company willing to pay these charges, or are they pushing the cost to employees? For example, if the Net coupon given to the employee is 1070/-, then the 30 rs is borne by the company? Secondly, do you have the option of not showing it on the Salary Slip? Because, anyway, that is not paid in the form of cash? Like in my company, we do not show it in the Salary Slip... Typically, from an accounting perspective, non-cash items need not be listed on the Salary Slip...

Cheers, Nikita

Hello, Ms. Nikita,

Thank you for your advice. Noted... not to show on the salary slip, and the amount could be accounted as expenses.

With Regards, Ramesh Kannan G

Hi Ramesh,

As per the income tax rules, if the company is providing food, it is not taxable. Food passes started based on this clause. According to the rules, the company can provide a maximum of Rs. 13,200/- in food passes (per annum). Up to this amount, it is tax-free for the employee. Any amount above this is taxable. Each company will provide food passes based on this criterion. However, if your company decides to give more, you can, but the employee will not receive additional benefits.

Regards,

S. Wajeed Babu
HR ADMIN
Smart Data Processing
Bangalore