Overview

• The government is assessing inclusion of a higher €10 tax-exempt ceiling for electronic meal vouchers in the 2026 budget.
• Current rules exempt up to €4 per day for paper vouchers and €8 for digital ones, with amounts above those limits taxed as income.
• A 5% ceiling on commissions charged to merchants took effect on 1 September under the 2024 Competition Bill, replacing fees that could reach about 20%.
• Merchant groups say the cap could save the sector up to €400 million annually, while issuers’ association Anseb projects around €180 million in added costs for client companies.
• Transitional provisions permit issuers to renegotiate or exit existing contracts as the market realigns, affecting a system serving about 3.5 million employees and 170,000 merchants.