According to the Tax Law (296/2023), an additional fee will be charged for meal vouchers (also known as tickets) from January 1. Companies that provide them to employees will also pay CASS (medical care contribution) of 10% on them.

A question that some entrepreneurs and employees ask themselves: why was CASS put “on food” if I do not use medical services?

This is a legitimate question.

Some even believe that it would be better to implement CAS because, in theory, it would provide benefits in retirement. We do not yet know what the pension system will be like in 10-20 years.

Is it still worth giving out food stamps?

Companies that have offered them to employees until now will continue to do so, so they will incur additional costs to avoid upsetting employees. That’s mostly because they want to keep their workforce, but some of them probably won’t get an adjustable raise in the summer.

Today, a ticket can reach 35 lei, and from January 1, 2024 – 40 lei. These are actually ceilings. Companies can choose lower values.

In September, there were even discussions among some employees of the corporation on this topic.

We heard from the government that they are raising it to 35 lei, but these amounts remained the same on the cards. At first, they thought he had defrauded his company, not knowing that the publicly stated amount was not binding.

Even if they exceed the tax from January 1, 2024, food vouchers are still a good option instead of a pay raise. They are exempt from CAS (25%). So this is an important percentage, but it is clear that this is an additional cost for companies that already provide it.

However, there is a commission of up to 3% for registration, this cost is borne by the company. As for commissions that issuing companies demand from traders, they were capped at 2% last week by a decree (OG 89/2023).

The government paid a lot of attention to CASS in the new tax law Ciolacu 1. For example, we see an increase in the field of independent activity – PFA, PFI, etc., where in the range of 6-60 salaries you pay a contribution to the general income. In addition, even if you have no income, or the amounts are very small, you must pay 6 salaries. It will be applicable starting from 2024 earnings.

Objects of construction, agriculture and food industry are also limited. That is, CASS will be paid, and employees will be exempt from November 1 only from income tax on salaries up to 10,000 lei.