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Understand · Payroll glossary

What are meal vouchers?

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Meal vouchers are vouchers for buying food, paid mostly by the employer, free of tax and contributions up to €10 per voucher. In 2026: €10.00 (maximum value of a meal voucher, of which at least €1.09 is paid by the worker). In Dutch: maaltijdcheques.

Definition of meal vouchers

In principle, you receive one voucher per day actually worked, on an electronic card. The employer pays the bigger part; your part, the employee share of at least €1.09 per voucher, is deducted from your net pay.

Within these limits, the voucher is neither taxed nor subject to contributions: at the same cost to the employer, it often brings in more than a gross pay rise.

The key figure in 2026

€10.00Maximum value of a meal voucher, of which at least €1.09 is paid by the worker

Source: Le chèque-repas de 10 euros : six questions pour les employeurs, Partena Professional (secondary source). 2027 amount: not yet published. This entry will be updated as soon as it is.

Worked example

Twenty days worked: €200.00 goes onto your card, of which €21.80 is paid by you and €178.20 by the employer. The same €178.20 paid as gross salary, at €3,000 a month, would leave you only €42.56 net.

In Dutch: maaltijdcheques

On a Dutch-language payslip or statement, meal vouchers are called ‘maaltijdcheques’; on a French-language one, ‘chèques-repas’. On Indexo’s English pages: meal vouchers.

Dutch term taken from: CSC/ACV (secondary source).

Not to be confused with…

  • Eco vouchers: vouchers for buying environmentally friendly products and services, up to €250 a year, free of tax and contributions.
  • Employee share of meal vouchers: your part of the cost of meal vouchers: at least €1.09 per voucher, deducted from your net pay.

Calculate it for your situation

What is left in net pay from a pay rise, and what the same budget would give in meal vouchers, telework allowance or a CLA 90 bonus.

Pay rise or benefits?

Related terms

Sources

Parameters in force on 1 October 2026. Each parameter links to its source, the official one where it exists; a secondary source is flagged as such.