Salary extras – What benefits can I pay my employees in addition to their salary?

Particularly with regard to personnel recruitment, employers can offer additional, attractive benefits that go beyond mere payment in the form of salary.

With selected salary extras, employees’ pay can be optimized through tax-privileged and social security-free benefits to achieve a higher net payout. Employers can thus reward employees for good work performance, in addition to increasing employee motivation and retaining skilled workers.
We present some interesting options:

Attractive salary extras

Charging device for electric vehicles

The employer can provide employees with a so-called wallbox for charging electric or hybrid vehicles free of charge or at a reduced rate, or pay a subsidy for the purchase or use of such a charging device, provided that this subsidy is paid in addition to the salary owed anyway. This subsidy is taxable at a flat rate of 25% by the employer.

Health promotion

For each employee, the employer may pay up to EUR 600 tax-free per calendar year in addition to the wages owed anyway to improve the employee’s general state of health. This subsidy applies exclusively to eligible measures that may be certified by the health insurance funds. This certification is a prerequisite for the tax exemption.

Recreational allowances

Wages can be converted into flat-rate taxed ( 25% flat-rate tax ) recreation allowance if the employee’s vacation is temporally related to the payment of the recreation allowance.

Exemption limit per calendar year one-time:

• 156 EUR for the employee,
• 104 EUR for the employee’s spouse/life partner, and
• 52 EUR for each child of the employee.

Care services

Short-term care of children up to the age of 14 and relatives in need of care, which is necessary for professional reasons, can be subsidized tax-free by the employer up to EUR 600 per calendar year, if it is an exceptional and unforeseen case of care.

Kindergarten allowance

Subsidies for kindergarten fees (for children who are not of school age) can be subsidized tax-free by the employer if the subsidy is paid in addition to the salary that is owed anyway. The benefit includes care and meals during the stay.

However, the employee is obliged to prove to the employer the actual costs of the kindergarten. The employer must take the copy of the invoice as proof to the payroll account.

Job tickets

Travel by public transport between home and the first place of work can be subsidized tax-free by the employer if the subsidy is paid in addition to the salary owed anyway. This also includes journeys to an extensive area of activity or to a meeting point permanently determined by the employer. The tax-free job ticket can also be used during free time.