Meal vouchers in Europe Euro area countries with no meal voucher scheme
Euro area countries with no meal voucher scheme
Half the euro area has no meal voucher scheme at all. Asking which card to use in Estonia or Cyprus is the wrong question, because there is no tax advantage for a card to carry. This page says so plainly for eight countries, gives the figures that do apply, and marks the two where a card programme still makes sense.
The short answer, country by country
| Country | What applies instead | 2026 figure | Card programme |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | General free space under the work costs rules | 2 percent of the first 400 000 EUR of payroll, 1.18 percent above | Yes, as a benefits card |
| Ireland | Small benefit exemption | 1 500 EUR a year, across at most five benefits | Yes, as a benefits card |
| Slovenia | Cash meal allowance paid with salary | 7.96 EUR a day free of tax | No tax reason |
| Estonia | Nothing, the meal is a taxable fringe benefit | Income tax and social tax apply | No |
| Lithuania | Nothing for meals, a small gift allowance exists | Gifts up to 200 EUR a year | No |
| Malta | Staff canteen exemption only | Meals in a canteen open to staff generally | No |
| Cyprus | Nothing, benefits in kind taxed as salary | Reimbursement only against proof of payment | No |
| Latvia | Staff catering exemption with five conditions | 480 EUR a year, about 40 EUR a month | Open question, see below |
Three different situations, not one
Lumping these countries together as absent markets hides the useful distinction. In two of them the tax wrapper exists but is not about food. In one the state already pays the employee directly. In four there is genuinely nothing to work with.
Netherlands and Ireland: the wrapper is just different
The Dutch work costs rules give an employer a free space of 2 percent on the first 400 000 EUR of payroll and 1.18 percent above that, within which benefits can be given untaxed. Exceed it and an 80 percent final levy applies to the excess. A meal in a company canteen carries a fixed norm of 4.05 EUR in 2026, up from 3.95 EUR. There is no food specific advantage to pass on, but there is a pool of untaxed value an employer can spend on staff.
Ireland works differently and is the more interesting of the two. The small benefit exemption allows up to 1 500 EUR a year per employee across at most five benefits, unchanged in the 2026 budget. The benefit must be non cash and must not be redeemable for cash, in whole or in part, and it cannot be part of a salary sacrifice arrangement. The rule is all or nothing per benefit: a 1 600 EUR item is taxed on the full 1 600, not on the 100 EUR of excess.
Why the Irish rule reads like a product specification. Not redeemable for cash is a card restriction. A maximum of five benefits a year is a load count. All or nothing per benefit is a validation rule that has to run before the load, not after. An issuer that already builds restricted cards has most of this working, which is why Ireland is a real opportunity even though it has nothing to do with meals.
Slovenia: the money is already there
Slovenia has a mandatory meal allowance and pays it in cash with salary. Reimbursement of meal costs is free of tax up to 7.96 EUR a day where the employee is at work for four hours or more, with a further 0.99 EUR for each completed hour beyond eight when the working day reaches ten hours.
The entitlement under the public sector agreement is a separate figure, 7.40 EUR a day for the first half of 2026 and 7.42 EUR from 1 July 2026. Confusing the tax ceiling with the negotiated rate is a common mistake, and they are not the same number.
A card can still be sold in Slovenia as a spending control or a broader benefits product. It cannot be sold as a tax optimisation, because the employee already receives the value untaxed without anyone issuing anything.
Estonia, Lithuania, Malta and Cyprus: nothing to optimise
Estonia. An employer cannot reimburse an employee's meal costs free of tax. Where the employer covers catering beyond the daily allowance it is a fringe benefit carrying both income tax and social tax.
Lithuania. Meals do not appear among the benefits Lithuanian rules allow tax free. That list covers insurance and pension contributions within limits, gifts and prizes up to 200 EUR a year, and employer funded education and job related training. An employer funded meal falls outside it.
Malta. Meals provided in a canteen where meals are available to staff generally are not taxable. The concession does not extend to hotels and catering businesses feeding their own staff in a room serving the public at the same time, unless part of the area is set aside for staff. Vouchers and cards have no separate exemption, so they would be taxed at the actual cost to the employer.
Cyprus. Benefits in kind are taxed the same way as salary. Reimbursement works only against actual expenses supported by proof of payment, and not where a lump sum is paid.
Latvia, the borderline case
Latvia does have an exemption for staff catering costs, worth up to 480 EUR a year per employee, which averages about 40 EUR a month. It has been in the personal income tax law since 1 January 2017. Five conditions apply and all of them must hold.
| Condition | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Collective agreement | The expense is provided for in one |
| Size | At least six employees |
| Trading history | At least one full calendar year before the tax year |
| Proportion | No more than 5 percent of the annual gross payroll |
| Good standing | No tax debts above 150 EUR at 15 December, and no findings of illicit employment or concealment of a serious workplace accident in the previous two tax years |
Whether the benefit can be delivered as a voucher or a card, or must be catering the employer buys directly, is the question that decides whether Latvia is a market or a curiosity. We have not been able to establish it from public sources and are not going to guess in either direction.
What this means for anyone selling here
Two countries are worth a conversation, and neither is about meals. The Netherlands and Ireland both have a general allowance that a restricted card can carry. The Irish rules in particular read like a specification for one.
Five are not. Slovenia pays cash, and Estonia, Lithuania, Malta and Cyprus tax an employer funded meal like pay. A proposal built on tax efficiency has nothing to stand on in any of them.
One is unresolved. Latvia, pending the question above.
For the markets that do have a scheme, start with what is changing or with the country pages: Austria, Finland, Greece, Luxembourg and Slovakia are the euro area entries. For the mechanics that make a restricted card work, see how a meal voucher card works.