GIFT. In the context of the coronavirus health crisis, the government announced the raising of the ceiling for the gift certificate.
[Mis à jour le 29 novembre 2021 à 08h52] 8000000. This is the number of employees who will benefit from this measure. The tax exemption limit for gift certificates goes this year from 171 euros to 250 euros. As a reminder, this same ceiling was raised to 342 euros last year. In fact, it is only a temporary aid. “Why is there a cap? We do not want the gift certificate to replace salary increases,” said the tenant of Bercy. “According to the issuers of gift certificates, this measure, taken in early December 2020, had led to the distribution of 150 million euros in additional gift certificates which were added to the 1.2 billion euros of gift vouchers distributed each year, “said Bercy in a communicated. Energy voucher, Christmas bonus, bonus of 100 euros … In addition to gift vouchers, the French will benefit from a lot of aid in December. Want to learn more about what to watch out for? Consult our file without delay:
Gift certificates 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 in advance. Most issuing companies allow you to view the list on their website. From a legal point of view, gift certificates are neither a supplement to salary, nor a gift or a benefit in kind.
The Amazon company offers gift certificates to businesses and individuals. The “Amazon Incentives” program notably enables 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 certificates. 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.
The Edenred company markets Kadéos Tickets sold to companies that want to reward their employees. Edenred offers various possibilities of vouchers or gift cards (Zénith, Elite, Infini, Culture card, 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 certificates: La Fnac, Go Sport, Galeries Lafayette, Agatha, Marionnaud, Super U, La Halle, etc. On its dedicated site, Kadéos allows you to search for brands where you can use its titles.
Sodexo sells gift certificates 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 certificate you have. Here is a non-exhaustive list: Carrefour city, La Fnac, Galeries Lafayette, Joué Club, La Grande Récré, Nature & Découvertes, etc.
Cadhoc is one of the leading companies in the marketing of gift vouchers and cards. The card can be used with “more than 230 brands, in stores and online” and “many local shops”, argues on the website. Checks can be used in “more than 780 national brands” and more than 62,000 points of sale in metropolitan France as well as in 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.
Fnac-Darty offers gift cards which are valid in both brands. Gift cards are staggered 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 apps, Deezer to buy a music subscription, ticket office to buy concert tickets, etc. They are valid for one year.
There are gift certificates dedicated to activities, outings or cultural goods. They benefit from a special tax regime. The so-called cultural checks are exempt from social contributions whatever their amount, “since their sole purpose is to facilitate the access of 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 “tickets for shows, theater, opera, concerts, cinema tickets, tickets to museums, historical monuments, books and comics, CDs, DVDs.”
The gift voucher is a voucher that can be used in certain brands. Within the company, it is issued by the social committee (CSE) or directly by the employer, when the company has few employees. But how are the award conditions defined? “You cannot use criteria such as age, sex, 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 certificates are exempt from social contributions for companies when Urssaf recalls “the total amount of all vouchers and gifts awarded to an employee during a calendar year does not exceed 5% of the monthly social security ceiling “. The ceiling was set at 342.80 euros for the year 2020 in the context 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 voucher is awarded for an event defined by Urssaf, here is the list:
- Birth or adoption
- Marriage or Pacs
- Departure at the retirement
- Fathers and mothers day
- Sainte-Catherine or Saint-Nicolas
- Xmas
- Back to school for employees with children under 26.