Company Christmas Eve and gifts from the employer. The tax office may be interested in them
publication
2025-12-22 06:00
Company Christmas Eve meetings, New Year's Eve and Christmas gifts are a nice accent at the end of the year for employees. However, they do not always mean the lack of obligations towards the tax office. With the holidays approaching, the question arises which benefits from the employer are tax neutral and which may require paying tax..
The applicable regulations show that not all benefits provided by the employer result in taxable income. Their nature and connection with the work performed are decisive.
– If the meeting is of an integration natureis available to all employees and does not involve individual material benefits (e.g. giving gifts of significant value), participation in it does not generate income for the employee. In such a situation, there is no obligation to pay income tax or social security contributions – explains Piotr Juszczyk, Chief Tax Advisor at inFakt.
The situation is different if During the meeting, the employee receives benefits of measurable value, such as:
- vouchers,
- gift cards,
- expensive gifts.
Then they may be considered income from an employment relationship. This means that the employer is obliged to take into account their value when calculating the income tax advance and ZUS contributions.
It is also worth noting that if gifts are financed from the Company Social Benefits Fund (ZFŚS) and meet certain conditions, they may benefit from from tax exemption up to PLN 1,000 per year – Juszczyk emphasizes.
The employer may also decide to provide small gifts that may already qualify as donations. The tax advisor points out that donations from persons who are not related in any way, up to the amount of PLN 5,733 within 5 years, are exempt. If the boss was very generous, the employee would have to pay tax on the surplus.
Therefore, simply participating in a Christmas meeting with the boss does not generate income for the employee. However, if you receive additional benefits of a specific value, it is necessary to properly identify and determine the source of income.
