GIFT VOUCHER 2019 – This voucher is granted by companies to their employees. Individuals can also choose to offer them to their loved ones. Are you wondering about the signs, their use, the amount? We answer all your questions about the gift voucher.
[Mis à jour le 22 novembre 2019 à 15h36] Do you benefit from it? Sometimes your company can give you gift certificates. As a reminder, these vouchers are issued by companies such as Cadhoc, Sodexo (TirGroupé) or Kadéos. As a reminder, their use is not permitted in any sign, but restricted to certain pre-determined ones. Most issuing companies allow you to view the list on their website. From a legal point of view, Gift certificates are neither a salary supplement, nor a gift or benefit in kind.
The Amazon company offers gift certificates to businesses and individuals. The “Amazon Incentives” program notably allows companies to offer gift vouchers 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 certificates. The list of signs distributed by Amazon is very large. High-Tech, culture, household appliances, music, beauty products … there are millions of references on the website of the American company.
Fnac-Darty offers gift cards which are valid in both stores. Gift cards are spread out in the amount of 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 Edenred company markets Kadéos Tickets sold to companies that want to reward their employees. Edenred offers different possibilities for gift vouchers or cards (Zenith, Elite, Infinite, Culture cards, etc.). The Kadéos Tickets can be used in a very large number of stores … Here is a (not exhaustive) list of brands that accept Kadéos gift vouchers: La Fnac, Go Sport, Galeries Lafayette, Agatha, Marionnaud, Super U, La Halle, etc. On its dedicated site, Kadéos allows you to search for stores where you can use its titles.
The Cadhoc company is one of the flagship companies in the marketing of gift vouchers or cards. The card can be used with “more than 230 stores, in stores and online” and “very many local shops”, it is argued on the website. 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 partner brands of the company, we note for example (non-exhaustive list): Auchan, La Fnac, Marionnaud, Truffaut, Sephora, L’Occitane, Maisons du Monde, Habitat, Intermarché, etc.
The Sodexo company markets gift vouchers under the name TirGroupé by Sodexo. The company offers a range of 4 gift vouchers (Happiness, Culture, Back to School, Freedom). Gift certificates are accepted in “more than 900 stores”, explains Sodexo. To know where to use them, you must select on the website the type of gift voucher you have. Here is a non-exhaustive list: Carrefour city, La Fnac, Galeries Lafayette, Joué Club, La Grande Récré, Nature & Découvertes, etc.
The overwhelming majority (90%) of gift vouchers distributed by companies to their employees was 166 euros in 2018, the ceiling not to be exceeded to be exempt from social security contributions. This ceiling is 169 euros in 2019. The average amount received by an employee is 78 euros per year.
Gift vouchers are exempt from social security contributions for businesses when Urssaf recalls “the total amount of all vouchers and gifts allocated to an employee during a calendar year does not exceed 5% of the Social Security monthly ceiling “. The ceiling is fixed at 169 euros for the year 2019 (% of the Social Security ceiling). Sometimes the total amount of gift vouchers 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 voucher is allocated for an event defined by Urssaf, here is the list:
- Birth or adoption
- Marriage or PACS
- Retirement
- Fathers and mothers day
- Sainte-Catherine or Saint-Nicolas
- Christmas
- Back to school for employees who have children under the age of 26.
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, “since their sole purpose is to facilitate the access of their beneficiaries to activities or services of a cultural nature,” says Urssaf on its site. By cultural goods or services, Urssaf means “places for shows, theater, opera, concerts, cinema seats, tickets for museums, historical monuments, books and comics, CDs, DVDs.”