Austria's tax rules allow employers to top up an employee's effective compensation with a range of benefits that attract no income tax and no social security contributions — for either the employer or the employee. Used well, these represent pure additional income. Used poorly (or not at all), they're money left on the table. This guide covers every major category of tax-free Sachleistungen with their exact 2026 limits.
Meal Vouchers (Essensgutscheine)
Meal vouchers are the most widely used tax-free benefit in Austria. The rules are specific:
- Restaurant vouchers: Up to €8 per working day at restaurants, canteens, or food outlets serving prepared meals
- Supermarket vouchers: Up to €2 per working day for food purchases at grocery stores (food items only — not general shopping)
Both limits apply per actual working day — not calendar day, not per week. If you work 22 days in February, you can receive up to 22 × €8 = €176 in tax-free restaurant vouchers that month.
The vouchers must be used for food. Restaurant vouchers issued through providers like Pluxee or Up (formerly Sodexo and Edenred) automatically enforce this. Supermarket vouchers must be used only for food items — the restriction is implicit and enforced by the specific voucher type.
Practical value: For an employee using restaurant vouchers for lunch 5 days a week, the annual benefit is approximately 220 working days × €8 = €1,760 in tax-free income. An employer paying this instead of an equivalent gross salary increase saves the employer's social security share (~21%) and the employee pays nothing extra in tax. Both sides win.
Profit-Sharing Bonus (Mitarbeitergewinnbeteiligung)
This is one of the most valuable and underused tax-free benefits in Austrian law. Employers can pay employees a profit-sharing bonus of up to €3,000 per year, completely free of income tax and social security contributions.
The only requirements: the payment must be made to all employees (not just senior management), must come from actual company profit, and must be structured as a genuine profit-share rather than a discretionary bonus rechristened as profit-sharing.
In practice, a €3,000 profit-sharing payment costs the employee €0 in tax and social security, while a €3,000 regular bonus would cost the employee perhaps €1,400–1,500 in combined deductions at a moderate income level. For the employer, the Mitarbeitergewinnbeteiligung is also exempt from the employer's social security contribution (around 21%), making it significantly cheaper to deliver.
Company Events (Betriebsveranstaltungen)
Employer-funded staff events — Christmas parties, team outings, company celebrations — are tax-free up to €365 per employee per year. This covers the event costs including meals, venue, entertainment, and transport.
If costs exceed €365 per head, the excess becomes a taxable benefit (Sachbezug). Employers typically track and manage event budgets carefully for this reason. The €365 limit applies to the sum of all qualifying events across the year, not per event.
Employee Discounts on Company Products
If your employer sells goods or services and you receive a discount as an employee, up to 20% discount OR €1,000 per year (whichever is lower, measured as the value of the discount) is tax-free. Discounts beyond 20% or exceeding €1,000 in total benefit become taxable Sachbezug.
Example: a retail employee who receives 15% off purchases worth €5,000 during the year gets a €750 discount — fully tax-free since it's under both the 20% threshold and the €1,000 cap.
Employer-Paid Childcare Grants
Employers can contribute up to €2,000 per year per child (under age 10) toward childcare costs, tax-free for the employee. This is separate from and complementary to the childcare cost deduction available on your personal tax return.
The payment must go directly to the childcare facility rather than as a cash payment to the employee to qualify for tax-free treatment.
Home Office Equipment
Employers can provide home office equipment — desk, chair, monitor, keyboard, headset — worth up to €300 per year tax-free. This applies to actual equipment, not cash. The item must be used primarily for work purposes, but given that home office setups are genuinely work infrastructure, this is broadly interpreted.
Bicycle and E-Bike for Commuting
This is one of the cleanest tax-free benefits available. An employer can provide an employee with a bicycle or e-bike for commuting, and:
- Zero Sachbezug applies, regardless of the bike's value
- Private use is permitted (unlike a company car)
- No income tax, no social security for the employee
- No employer social security contribution
A quality e-commuter bike worth €3,000–4,000 is entirely tax-free as a benefit. The employee can also use it for personal cycling on weekends without triggering any tax consequence. This compares very favourably to a company car, where even a modest vehicle creates hundreds of euros per month in additional taxable income.
Klimaticket and Public Transport Passes
An employer-paid Klimaticket (the national annual public transport pass, currently ~€1,095/year) or any other public transport season ticket is completely tax-free for the employee. There's no cap. The pass must genuinely be for commuting or business travel use.
For employees who live near reliable public transport, this benefit is essentially free money — the same Klimaticket that costs €1,095 out of pocket, when provided by an employer, saves the employee the after-tax cost they'd otherwise incur, and costs the employer less than a salary increase of equivalent gross value.
Combining Benefits: A Real Package
Consider what an employer could offer in tax-free benefits annually:
| Benefit | Annual value |
|---|---|
| Meal vouchers (€8/day × 220 days) | €1,760 |
| Profit-sharing bonus | €3,000 |
| Company events | €365 |
| Klimaticket | €1,095 |
| Home office equipment | €300 |
| Employer childcare grant (1 child) | €2,000 |
| Total | €8,520 |
An employee receiving this package alongside their salary is getting €8,520 in additional economic value with zero income tax and zero social security on those amounts. Negotiating for benefits rather than equivalent gross salary is almost always more efficient.
What Employees Should Ask For
If your employer is open to structuring compensation creatively, the priority benefits to negotiate are:
- Profit-sharing bonus — highest absolute value, completely clean
- Meal vouchers — low-friction, well-established infrastructure
- Klimaticket — if you already commute by public transport
- Childcare grant — exceptionally valuable if you have young children
- E-bike — if cycling is viable for your commute
Use our income tax calculator to see how your total compensation — including taxable Sachbezug benefits like a company car — affects your net take-home pay.