What is the daily meal voucher limit in Europe in 2026?

It differs by market and the period is not always a day. Daily ceilings include 25 EUR in France, 11 EUR in Spain, 10 EUR in Belgium and Italy, 6 EUR in Greece and 45 RON in Romania. Bulgaria and Poland set a monthly ceiling instead, at 102.26 EUR and 450 PLN, and Croatia sets both a monthly and an annual one.

Which countries require the employee to pay part of a meal voucher?

Belgium requires at least 1.09 EUR and Luxembourg exactly 2.80 EUR, in both cases as a condition of the tax treatment rather than as an option. Finland works differently: the taxable value is 75 percent of whatever is loaded, so the employee effectively carries that share. In Luxembourg an employer funding the whole face value turns the employee share into a taxable benefit.

Which European meal voucher limits change next?

Romania reindexes its 45 RON ceiling from October 2026. France's derogation allowing any food product runs to 31 December 2026 in current law; the bill filed in June 2026 would extend it to 31 December 2027 and end paper issuance from 1 January 2028. The revised European payment services rules take effect around 2028 and narrow the limited network exclusion.

Meal vouchers in Europe Meal voucher limits in Europe in 2026

Meal voucher limits in Europe in 2026

Every meal voucher ceiling we track, in one table. The number alone is misleading in most markets, because a daily limit and a monthly one are not comparable and several countries require the employee to fund part of the value, so the period and the employee share are here too.

Last reviewed: 3 September 2026. Figures are dated individually on each country page and are sourced to national registers, decrees and tax authority decisions. These ceilings are revised regularly, usually with the annual budget.

To apply these ceilings to a team, use the meal benefit calculator: pick a market, set the people and the days, and it splits the amount at the ceiling.

Ceiling per day
Ceiling per month
Per meal, shift, voucher or year
No meal voucher scheme

Each square is one country, placed roughly where it sits on the map. The figure is the ceiling from the table below; open a square for the country page.

The table

Market	Ceiling	Period	Employee share	Paper	Currency
Austria	8.00 restaurant, 2.00 shop	Working day	None	Permitted	EUR
Belgium	10.00	Working day	At least 1.09	Gone since 2016	EUR
Bulgaria	102.26	Month	None	Gone since 2024	EUR
Croatia	100 flat, or 150 on invoices	Month	None	Not applicable	EUR
Czechia	129.50	Shift	None	Permitted	CZK
Finland	8.80 to 14.00	Working day	75 percent of nominal	Effectively gone	EUR
France	25.00, employer exempt to 7.32	Day	Typically half	Issuance ends 1 Jan 2028 (bill)	EUR
Germany	4.57 plus 3.10 per meal	Working day	None	Rare	EUR
Greece	6.00	Working day	None	Not applicable	EUR
Hungary	570 000 total, recreation card	Year	None	Not applicable	HUF
Italy	10.00 electronic, 4.00 paper	Day	None	Permitted	EUR
Luxembourg	15.00 face value	Voucher	2.80, mandatory	Gone since 2025	EUR
Poland	450	Month	None	Permitted	PLN
Portugal	6.15 cash, 10.46 card	Day	None	Rare	EUR
Romania	45	Day	None	Gone since 2023	RON
Slovakia	Voucher at least 6.98	Working day	None	Gone since 2023	EUR
Spain	11.00, 9.00 in the Basque Country	Working day	None	Permitted	EUR

Why the numbers are not comparable

The period is different. A 10 euro daily ceiling in Belgium and a 102.26 euro monthly ceiling in Bulgaria are not two versions of the same thing. Over a month of working days the Belgian figure is roughly double.

Some ceilings are per working day, some per calendar day. Spain counts only days actually worked, so holidays and sick leave do not accrue entitlement. A programme that loads a flat monthly amount will exceed the ceiling for anyone who was away.

Three markets require the employee to pay part. Belgium at least 1.09 euro, Luxembourg exactly 2.80 euro, and Finland through a different mechanism entirely, where the taxable value is 75 percent of whatever is loaded. In Luxembourg an employer who funds the whole 15 euro turns the employee share into a taxable benefit.

One entry is not a meal voucher at all. The Hungarian figure is an annual recreation card limit covering accommodation, catering and leisure. It is here because employers use it for meals and people search for it alongside the others.

The ones that will move next

Date	Market	What changes
1 October 2026	Romania	The 45 RON ceiling is reindexed under law 165/2018, figure not published as at 22 September 2026
Autumn 2026	Germany, Finland, Czechia, Italy, Portugal, Bulgaria	The instruments that set the 2027 figures. What is already set for 2027
31 December 2026	France	The derogation allowing any food product expires, unless the June 2026 bill extends it to 31 December 2027
1 January 2028 (bill)	France	End of paper issuance under bill n° 2892, still before Parliament
Around 2028	European Union	Revised payment services rules narrow the limited network exclusion

The calendar holds every dated change, including the ones already past.

What is not in the table

Eight euro area countries have no meal voucher scheme at all, so they have no ceiling to list. The Netherlands funds benefits from a general allowance, Slovenia pays a meal allowance in cash with salary, and Estonia, Lithuania, Malta and Cyprus tax an employer funded meal like pay. Countries with no scheme sets out what applies instead.

Also absent: who is allowed to issue in each market, which is a separate question with its own answer. Four countries keep a public register and the rest do not, and the registers reprint them.

Planning a meal card programme?

Every market on this site has its own ceiling, period and acceptance rule. Our card platform applies them at authorisation, with daily or monthly limits and your own merchant list where the law requires one, on a card that carries your brand.

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