Lunch benefit, Italian style: meal vouchers and fringe benefits in 2026

Nordic employers know the value of tax-efficient benefits: lunch cards, wellness allowances, a company phone. Italy has its own set, and two of them are worth knowing before you make an offer: meal vouchers and fringe benefits.

Meal vouchers (buoni pasto)  

Meal vouchers are the most common Italian benefit. The employee receives a voucher for each working day, usually loaded on a card, to spend in restaurants, bars and supermarkets.

The point is tax. In 2026, meal vouchers are exempt from income tax and social contributions up to:

• €10 a day for electronic vouchers;
• €4 a day for paper vouchers.

Above those amounts, the excess is taxed as salary. In practice almost everyone uses electronic vouchers.

For a remote employee with no company canteen, meal vouchers are an efficient way to raise net pay without the cost of an equivalent gross raise. Italian candidates notice them and often ask.

A few practical points:

• vouchers are normally given for days actually worked, not for holiday or sick days;
• the CCNL or a company policy sets who receives them;
• part-time employees receive them according to the policy, usually on days worked.

Fringe benefits  

Italy also has a yearly tax-free threshold for other benefits in kind, such as gift cards, shopping vouchers and payment of utility bills. In 2026 it is:

• €1,000 a year for employees in general;
• €2,000 a year for employees with dependent children.

The threshold is a cliff. If the total value exceeds it, the whole amount becomes taxable, not just the excess. Track it.

Other benefits  

• Supplementary health cover. Contributions to health funds, often set by the CCNL, are exempt up to €3,615.20 a year.
• Supplementary pension. The TFR and extra contributions can go to a pension fund; the nearest thing to a Nordic occupational pension top-up.
• Company car. For business and private use, taxed on a flat share of a standard cost that depends on emissions.
• Laptop and phone. Work tools, documented as such, are not taxable salary.

What does not translate  

Some Nordic benefits have no direct Italian equivalent, and their tax treatment in Italy may differ. Before you copy a group benefits policy, ask us which items work in Italy and which become taxable salary.

Building a package  

A simple, competitive package for an Italian professional might include:

1. electronic meal vouchers for each working day;
2. the CCNL health fund, or a better plan;
3. TFR into a pension fund of the employee’s choice;
4. laptop and phone;
5. a written lavoro agile agreement.

Each item is easy to explain in an offer and easy to run through payroll.

Cost  

Meal vouchers and benefits within the thresholds cost you their face value, without employer contributions on top. That makes them cheaper per euro of net pay than salary. We show them as separate lines in the quote and the monthly invoice.

Questions we hear from Nordic companies  

Can we give meal vouchers to a remote employee? Yes, under a company policy. They are a common way to support remote staff who have no canteen.

Do benefits count for the TFR? Benefits within the tax-free thresholds are generally not salary, so they do not raise the TFR or contributions. Salary items do.

Can we change the benefit package later? Benefits granted by contract or established practice can be hard to withdraw. Start with what you are sure you will keep, and add later.

Do meal vouchers appear on the payslip? Yes, as a non-taxable line within the daily limit. Any excess above the limit is shown and taxed as salary. The employee sees exactly what they received each month, and you see the cost in the payroll summary.

In short  

Electronic meal vouchers up to €10 a day and fringe benefits within the yearly threshold are the simplest way to raise an Italian employee’s net pay at a lower cost than salary. Track the fringe-benefit threshold carefully, because exceeding it makes the whole amount taxable. Before copying a Nordic benefit package, check each item: some translate directly, others become ordinary taxable salary in Italy.

See the full list of pay and benefit items in From RAL to net pay . Model a package in the cost calculator .