In the current economic condition of resource crunch, most organizations are looking for ways to woo new and existing workforce. One common strategy that is gaining popularity is meal cards. Since employees are returning to offices after a prolonged stint of remote work, access to home-cooked food has become a challenge. It is a trend among professionals to eat meals that are unhealthy and quick fixes. In such a setup, meal cards become not just a way to provide healthy food choices, but also add that as an incentive. Additionally, there is an underlying benefit, which is attracting more and more employees towards a meal card – tax savings.
Meal card is a convenient method of giving employees a dedicated allowance that they can use to purchase meals. Employees can use this card to pay for food, groceries, and non-alcoholic drinks. Companies are using this as a part of the employee benefits to help them take care of their needs and preferences concerning daily meals.
A lot of employees leave their homes early to commute to work, which doesn’t give them time to prepare meals for their lunch. To save costs, they end up choosing fast food, which is low in nutrition. With access to a specific fund for food, they can order the healthy meals of their choice. However, this is just one part of the benefit.
Meal card is a great way for employers to help reduce the tax burden of their team and improve their take-home salary. Section 17(2)(viii) of the Income Tax Act allows salaried individuals to get tax exemption on the amount spent for meals if they do not exceed Rs 50 per meal. If the cost exceeds the limit, then they are liable to pay tax on the exceeding amount. As per the law, you are entitled to free food during the office hours. It means you can calculate the amount spent on meals and get that money tax-free.
Quite a few employees get a fixed allowance amount loaded onto the meal card. This amount is deducted from their salaries and added to the card. It means your taxable income is reduced by that amount, which you still have access to and can be used to buy food. Thereby, increasing the amount you end up taking home after the tax liability.
Managing individual employee preferences is difficult for employers as it requires a lot of number crunching, tracking, and managing. You can simplify this operational overhead with Zaggle SAVE. This is a digital platform that takes care of employee tax benefits without a hassle. Zaggle SAVE allows companies to bundle all the benefits including food coupons, travel vouchers, and fuel allowance in a single card for easy management.
Zaggle SAVE helps employers complete the meal card admin process in three simple steps:
Zaggle SAVE will give you a competitive advantage over your peers through advanced capabilities to manage employee benefits. Some of the benefits are listed below.
With Zaggle SAVE, you can enhance your employee experience and save time and money. Zaggle SAVE meal cards are a smart solution that simplifies the management of employee tax benefits. By offering a range of benefits in a single digital card, it ensures compliance, security, and flexibility for both employers and employees.
Expert contributor and editor at the Zaggle Knowledge Hub, specializing in corporate spend management, expense compliance, and B2B fintech solutions.
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