GIFT. In the context of the coronavirus health crisis, the government has announced the raising of the gift voucher ceiling. It now reaches 250 euros, against 171 euros initially.
Gift vouchers are vouchers issued by companies such as Cadhoc, Sodexo (TirGroupé) or Kadéos. Their use is not permitted in any sign. It is restricted to certain brands determined beforehand. Most issuing companies allow you to consult the list on their website. From a legal point of view, gift vouchers are neither a salary supplement, nor a gift or benefit in kind. In 2021, the tax exemption ceiling for the gift voucher went from 171 euros to 250 euros. As a reminder, this same ceiling was increased to 342 euros last year. Anticipating a tough year-end? Linternaute.com directs you to make you happy for the end of year celebrations. Consult our dedicated file without delay:
Sodexo sells gift vouchers under the name TirGroupé by Sodexo. The company offers a range of 4 gift vouchers (Bonheur, Culture, Rentrée, Liberté). Gift certificates are accepted at “more than 900 stores”, explains Sodexo. To know where to use them, you must select on the website the type of gift certificate you have. Here is a non-exhaustive list: Carrefour city, La Fnac, Galeries Lafayette, Joué Club, La Grande Récré, Nature
The Amazon company offers gift certificates to businesses and individuals. The “Amazon Incentives” program allows companies to offer gift certificates to their employees. Gift certificates can be personalized, in physical form or sent by email. Amazon checks are between 1 and 5,000 euros. Individuals can also offer gift certificates to their loved ones. Again, they are customizable for birthdays, a special event, etc. It is possible to offer digital gift vouchers. The list of brands distributed by Amazon is very important. High-Tech, culture, household appliances, music, beauty products… there are millions of references on the American company’s website.
Edenred sells Kadéos Tickets sold to companies that want to reward their employees. Edenred offers different options for gift vouchers or cards (Carte Zénith, Elite, Infini, Culture, etc.). Kadéos Tickets can be used in a very large number of brands… Here is a (non-exhaustive) list of brands that accept Kadéos gift vouchers: La Fnac, Go Sport, Galeries Lafayette, Agatha, Marionnaud, Super U, La Hall, etc. On its dedicated site, Kadéos allows you to search for stores where you can use its titles.
Fnac-Darty offers gift cards that are valid in both brands. Gift cards range in amount from 15 to 250 euros. It is possible to personalize them for a birthday, a thank you etc. In addition, there are targeted gift cards: e-Google play to buy games and applications, Deezer to buy a music subscription, ticket office to buy concert tickets, etc. They are valid for one year.
The Cadhoc company is one of the leading companies in the marketing of gift vouchers or cards. The card can be used at “more than 230 brands, in-store and online” and “many local shops”, we argue on the website. The checks can be used in “more than 780 national brands” and more than 62,000 points of sale in mainland France and Martinique. Among the company’s partner brands, we note for example (non-exhaustive list): Auchan, La Fnac, Marionnaud, Truffaut, Sephora, L’Occitane, Maisons du Monde, Habitat, Intermarché, etc.
There are gift vouchers dedicated to activities, outings or cultural goods. They benefit from a special tax regime. So-called cultural checks are exempt from social security contributions regardless of their amount, “as long as their exclusive purpose is to facilitate access for their beneficiaries to activities or services of a cultural nature”, indicates Urssaf on its site. . By goods or services of a cultural nature, Urssaf means “performance tickets, theatre, opera, concerts, cinema tickets, admission tickets to museums, historical monuments, books and comics, CDs, DVDs.”
The gift certificate is a voucher that can be used in certain stores. Within the company, it is given by the social committee (CSE) or directly by the employer, when the company has few employees. But how are the conditions of attribution defined? “You cannot use criteria such as age, gender, origin, religion, union membership or participation in a strike to decide who is entitled to gift vouchers”, warns the site of the industrialist Sodexo. On the other hand, other criteria can be taken into account such as the family quotient and the composition of the household.
Gift vouchers are exempt from social security contributions for companies when Urssaf recalls “the total amount of all purchase vouchers and gifts allocated to an employee during a calendar year does not exceed 5% of the social security monthly ceiling”. The ceiling had been set at 342.80 euros for the year 2020 as part of the health crisis to support small businesses. In 2021, it is set at 250 euros, announced Bruno Le Maire.
It happens that the total amount of gift certificates received over a year by an employee exceeds the ceiling… Companies can be exempt from social security contributions if they simultaneously meet 3 conditions: the gift certificate is awarded for an event defined by the ‘Urssaf, here is the list:
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