Employee recognition in Ireland, within the Small Benefit Exemption
Irish payroll teams know the Small Benefit Exemption well: up to five non-cash benefits a year, €1,500 combined, each one reported to Revenue. Mojo Gift runs employee recognition for employers with people in Ireland as a managed programme, invoiced in EUR, with the date and value of every gift ready for payroll.
How employee gifts are taxed in Ireland
The Small Benefit Exemption. From 1 January 2025 an employer can give an employee up to five small benefits a year, tax free, with a combined value of no more than €1,500. The benefits must not be cash, a voucher must only be usable for goods or services and must not be redeemable for cash in full or in part, and unused allowance cannot be carried over. Revenue's Tax and Duty Manual adds that the benefit must not form part of a salary sacrifice arrangement, and that these limits run to the end of 2029.
The order matters. Only the first five benefits in a year can qualify, and the manual is explicit that an employer may not choose which five: the exemption cannot be saved for a bigger gift later in the year. A single benefit worth more than €1,500 is taxed in full, not just on the excess, and a sixth benefit is taxable however small it is.
Everything else is benefit in kind. A gift outside the exemption is a taxable benefit in kind: the employer deducts Income Tax, PRSI and USC on its value through PAYE. Performance awards and staff suggestion awards are taxable in the same way unless they meet the conditions of the Small Benefit Exemption. A long service award is exempt on its own terms only when it marks 20 years or more, is a tangible item rather than a voucher or cash, costs €50 or less per year of service, and no similar award was given in the previous five years.
Report as you go. Since 1 January 2024 the employer returns the date and value of each small benefit to Revenue in real time, under the enhanced reporting requirements. That is why every Mojo Moment comes with a record of the recipient, the value and the delivery date, exported in one file for payroll.
This is general information as of 2026, not tax advice. Your payroll provider or accountant decides how each gift is treated.
How Mojo runs recognition for your Irish team
Agreed once with payroll, chosen by each employee, reported to Revenue from one file.
Map the year to five benefits
We set the occasions and values with you so that each employee's gifts, from onboarding to the 10-year anniversary, sit within the five benefits and €1,500 your payroll provider has in mind, and larger milestones are planned as taxable rewards from the start.
Send four fields, we flag the dates
Name, occasion type, date and work email, held under a signed DPA and GDPR. The Occasions Engine flags each milestone before it happens, so nothing is missed and nothing is rushed into the wrong tax year.
Each person chooses, a concierge delivers
A dinner in Galway, a weekend in Kerry, a course or a product delivered home. The recipient chooses, a human concierge delivers the Mojo Moment by email with a personal message, and payroll receives the date and value for its Revenue return.
Why it works for employers in Ireland
Built for a payroll team that reports every gift.
A record for every gift
Recipient, value, occasion and delivery date, generated when the gift is issued and exported in one file, which is what real-time reporting to Revenue needs.
Non-cash by design
The recipient chooses an experience or a product, never cash, and the amount is never shown to them. Your payroll provider decides whether a given gift fits the exemption.
Invoiced in EUR, nothing lost to expiry
One invoice in EUR, gift value funded at face value, and a gift that never expires, so no budget disappears in unredeemed vouchers.
One programme for staff abroad too
The same programme covers colleagues in the UK, the Netherlands, Germany and 190 countries, with tax documentation for each country.
What makes Mojo different for Irish employers
Built around the person receiving the gift, and the rules around it.
The employee decides
A human concierge
No expiry. Ever.
Documentation in every country
Employee recognition in Ireland, answered
Does a Mojo Moment count as a small benefit?
It is a non-cash gift, chosen by the employee, given on top of salary, and the record shows its date and value. Whether a particular gift qualifies depends on its value, how many benefits that employee has already had in the year and the conditions on the day, so your payroll provider makes the call. Mojo gives them what they need to make it.
Can we give a Christmas gift and a work anniversary gift in the same year?
Yes. Up to five benefits a year can be tax free, as long as their combined value stays within €1,500 and each one is non-cash. Only the first five count, and anything unused does not carry into the next year.
What if the gift is for hitting a target?
Revenue treats exceptional performance awards as taxable benefits in kind, but says an employer can give the award tax free if it meets the conditions of the Small Benefit Exemption. Unlike the UK's trivial benefits rule, the Irish exemption does not exclude rewards for performance. Your payroll provider decides.
How do we report small benefits to Revenue?
Since 1 January 2024 the employer returns the date and value of each small benefit in real time. Every Mojo Moment is logged with recipient, value, occasion and delivery date, and the whole record exports in one file, so payroll is not reconstructing gifts after the fact.
Is a 20-year award tax free in Ireland?
The long service award exemption needs a tangible item, not a voucher or cash, for 20 years or more, costing €50 or less per year of service, with no similar award in the previous five years. An experience the employee chooses does not fit that wording, so a long service gift usually sits within the Small Benefit Exemption, if it is one of the five and within €1,500, or is taxed through payroll. Plan it with payroll before the date.
What does it cost?
€25 per Mojo Moment per year, from 50 Moments (€1,250 a year), invoiced in EUR, GBP or USD. Gift value is funded on top at face value. Setup within 48 hours, first gift within 7 days or month one is free, and a 30-day Standing Ovation guarantee. One-off campaigns are €6,250 per 250 Moments.
Plan recognition for your team in Ireland
Book a 30-minute call. We map your occasions to the five benefits and €1,500, and show you how the programme runs.
Book a 30-minute call