€40 at the year end, €245 for a wedding: the RSZ limits for employee gifts in Belgium
Belgium exempts employee gifts from social security contributions only for named occasions and fixed amounts: €40 per employee per year at Sinterklaas, Christmas or New Year plus €40 per dependent child, €245 for a marriage, €40 per year of service at retirement. Exceed the amount and contributions are usually due on the whole gift. Every figure below links to the RSZ instructions.
How the RSZ treats gifts to employees
The year-end gift. A gift in kind, in cash or as a geschenkcheque for Sinterklaas, Christmas or New Year is free of social security contributions up to €40 per employee per year, plus €40 per year for each dependent child. The RSZ judges the employer's system rather than each person: an employer that gives everyone €100 has made all of the gifts salary, including for staff with two or more children. A gift cheque must be redeemable only with businesses that have an agreement with the issuer, have a limited validity and never be paid out in cash.
The other occasions. The same instructions exempt €120 per employee per year for an honorary distinction, which means an official or civic award from outside the company, not a company jubilee; €40 per full year of service with the employer at retirement, with a minimum of €120 and a maximum of €1,000; and €245 for a marriage or a declaration of legal cohabitation. There is no general small-value rule: a gift for any other reason is salary.
Over the limit. For the year-end, honorary distinction and retirement gifts, contributions are due on the full value of the gift once the amount is exceeded, not on the excess. The marriage premium is the exception: only the part above €245 is subject to contributions.
The tax side, and 2026. This page covers the RSZ rules. The tax administration aligned its own amounts for these occasions with the social ones in circular 2018/C/125, and the deductibility of gifts for the employer follows the same limits; your accountant confirms both for your case. The amounts have not changed for 2026: the RSZ instructions for 2026 carry the same figures as 2024, set by the Royal Decree of 3 July 2018.
This is general information as of 2026 on the social security side, not tax or legal advice. Your social secretariat and accountant decide how each gift is treated, including the income tax and deductibility side.
Three gifts, three payroll treatments
The same company, one December, three decisions.
A €40 gift cheque for everyone in December
Within the year-end limit: no contributions. An employee with two dependent children can receive up to €120 under the same rule, provided the system gives €40 per child and not €120 to all.
€100 for everyone in December
The system exceeds €40 per employee, so every gift is salary and contributions are due on the full €100, including for the parents who would have been within their own limit.
An €800 retirement gift after 20 years
€40 per year of service gives €800, within the €120 to €1,000 range: exempt. At €900 the whole €900 would be subject, because the retirement limit is applied to the total.
What Mojo Gift gives Belgian payroll
The value and the occasion per gift, so the social secretariat sees the system, not a surprise.
Value, occasion and date per gift
Every Mojo Moment is logged with recipient, value, occasion and delivery date, and exports in one file for the social secretariat and the accountant.
Values set to the occasions
At setup the year-end gift is fixed at €40 plus €40 per child, the wedding gift at €245, the retirement gift at €40 per year of service; everything else is planned as salary from the start.
Non-cash by design
The recipient chooses an experience or a product, never cash, and the amount is never shown to them.
One programme, 190 countries
Colleagues outside Belgium get the same programme, with the record their own country's payroll needs.
Built for the finance question
A programme that answers the payroll query before it is asked.
A record the social secretariat can use
Occasions and amounts planned
No expiry
A human concierge
Belgian employee gift tax, answered
Is the €40 per gift or per year?
Per employee per year, for Sinterklaas, Christmas and New Year together, plus €40 per year for each dependent child. The RSZ looks at the employer's allocation system, so the amounts must be set per employee and per child, not as one figure for everyone.
Can we give €50 at Christmas and pay contributions on the extra €10?
No. For the year-end gift the limit applies to the total: at €50 the whole €50 is salary and subject to contributions. Only the €245 marriage premium is treated differently, where only the excess is subject.
Does a work anniversary count as an honorary distinction?
No. The €120 exemption is for an official or civic distinction awarded from outside the company. A company jubilee is not one, so a gift for 20 years of service is salary unless it is given at retirement, where €40 per year of service applies.
Are the amounts the same for income tax?
The tax administration aligned its amounts for these occasions with the RSZ ones in 2018, and the employer's deductibility follows the same limits. This page documents the social security side; your accountant confirms the tax treatment and deductibility for your case.
Did anything change for 2026?
No. The RSZ instructions for 2026 carry the same amounts as 2024, which were set by the Royal Decree of 3 July 2018.
What does Mojo Gift cost, and does it decide whether a gift is taxable?
€25 per Mojo Moment per year, from 50 Moments (€1,250 a year), £25 for UK-billed programmes, invoiced in EUR, GBP or USD; gift value is funded on top at face value. One-off campaigns are €6,250 per 250 Moments. Mojo Gift does not decide the tax treatment: each gift carries its recipient, value, occasion, country and date, and your payroll provider or accountant applies the rule.
Set the amounts per occasion before December
Book a 30-minute call. We map your occasions to the RSZ limits and show the record each gift carries for the social secretariat.
Book a 30-minute call