€200 per employee in 2026: the URSSAF rule for employee gifts in France
In France gift vouchers and gifts to employees are free of social security contributions up to 5% of the monthly social security ceiling per employee per year, €200 in 2026. Above that, each gift must be tied to a listed event, used accordingly and kept within 5% per event. Here is how it works, who may give them, and what changes for the médaille du travail, with the URSSAF page for every figure.
How URSSAF treats gifts to employees
The annual threshold. Bons d'achat and gifts given to an employee in a calendar year are exempt from contributions when their total does not exceed 5% of the plafond mensuel de la sécurité sociale, €200 in 2026. The ceiling for 2026 is €4,005 a month; in 2025 it was €3,925, which made the threshold €196. Below the threshold no condition about the occasion has to be met.
Above the threshold. Contributions are then due unless each bon or gift meets three conditions together: it is given for a listed event concerning the employee (birth or adoption, marriage or PACS, retirement, Mother's and Father's Day, Sainte-Catherine and Saint-Nicolas, Christmas for employees and for children up to 16, and the rentrée scolaire for children under 26); its use is tied to the event, by naming the type of goods, the department or the shops; and its amount is in line with custom, which URSSAF sets at 5% of the monthly ceiling per event per year, with Christmas counted per child plus the employee and the rentrée per child. A bon and a gift in kind for the same event are added together. A bon that fails the conditions is subject in full.
Who gives, and income tax. The gifts are normally granted by the comité social et économique, or by the employer where there is no CSE: fewer than 11 employees, 11 to 49 where the CSE does not manage social activities, or a procès-verbal de carence. For the employee's income tax the tax administration exempts gifts of modest value given for a particular event by established custom, modest meaning the same 5% per event per year; its list of events is shorter than URSSAF's and includes birthdays, so the two rules do not match exactly.
The médaille du travail, and 2026. The gratification paid with a médaille d'honneur du travail is exempt from contributions up to the employee’s monthly base salary as a tolerance until 31 December 2026, and fully subject from 1 January 2027; its income tax exemption was repealed for pay received from 1 January 2026. The gift threshold itself rose from €196 to €200 with the 2026 ceiling.
This is general information as of 2026, not tax or legal advice. Your expert-comptable or payroll provider decides how each gift is treated.
Three gifts, three payroll treatments
The same company, one year, three decisions.
€150 of bons d'achat in the year
Under €200: no contributions and no event to document. The remaining €50 can be used for anything before the annual threshold is reached.
€600 at Christmas for an employee with two children under 16
Above the annual threshold, so the conditions apply: Christmas is a listed event, the amount is within 5% for the employee plus 5% per child (€600 in 2026), and the bons name children's or gift departments. Exempt.
A €250 bon with no event
Above €200 and tied to no listed event, so contributions are due on the full €250, not on the €50 above the line.
What Mojo Gift gives French payroll
The event, the value and the date per gift, so the DSN is a lookup, not a reconstruction.
Event, value and date per gift
Every Mojo Moment is logged with recipient, value, occasion and delivery date, and exports in one file for the DSN and the expert-comptable.
Values set to 5% per event
Occasion values are agreed at setup against the year's ceiling: €200 in 2026, counted per employee, per event and per child where the rule allows.
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 France 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 DSN can use
Events and amounts planned
No expiry
A human concierge
French employee gift tax, answered
What is the URSSAF threshold for gifts in 2026?
€200 per employee per calendar year, which is 5% of the 2026 monthly social security ceiling of €4,005. In 2025 it was €196. Below it, bons d'achat and gifts are exempt from contributions whatever the occasion.
Can an employer without a CSE give bons d'achat?
Yes, in three cases: fewer than 11 employees; 11 to 49 employees where the CSE does not manage social and cultural activities; or where a procès-verbal de carence records that no CSE could be elected. The same thresholds and conditions apply.
Is a birthday gift exempt?
Not under the URSSAF rule once the €200 is exceeded, because a birthday is not on its list of events. The income tax administration's list of customary events does include birthdays, so the two sets of rules differ; your expert-comptable applies both.
Are cartes cadeaux treated like bons d'achat?
URSSAF's page speaks of bons d'achat and chèques-cadeaux. Above the threshold the same test applies to any card: the use must be tied to the event by naming the goods, the department or the shops, which an open card does not do on its own. Check the card's terms with your expert-comptable.
What changes for the médaille du travail?
The gratification is exempt from contributions up to the employee's monthly base salary until 31 December 2026 as a tolerance; from 1 January 2027 it is fully subject. For income tax the exemption was repealed for pay received from 1 January 2026.
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.
Plan the year's events against €200 per person
Book a 30-minute call. We map your occasions to the URSSAF list and show the record each gift carries for the DSN.
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