With the increase in the tax-free limit for the Small Benefit Scheme to €500 per employee per year, many Irish companies are asking if they can use the scheme to run a year-round employee reward programme in a tax-efficient way.
And the good news is that YES, YOU CAN!
And with potential tax-savings of over €650, it’s well worthwhile exploring this option.
Points-Based Programmes
Companies can extend the scheme throughout the year in conjunction with a qualifying reward points system. This means that employers can award points to their employees throughout the year, and allow them to “cash-in” their points in December up to maximum of €500 in non-cash rewards.
The advantage of course is that instead of a giving a one-off reward for retrospective performance (company or employee), an ongoing proactive incentive & reward programme can be run throughout the year. This could be in the form of a Performance Incentive, KPI Programme, Safety-at-Work Programme, Wellness Programme, Referral Programme, Recognition Programme, Peer-2-Peer Programme - to name but a few.
As well as enjoying the same tax-free status, ongoing staff rewards programmes can have the advantage of being more engaging and impactful than a single one-off reward.
Example: Allgo Points
The Allgo’s points platform allows employers to run ongoing reward programmes, and is fully approved by Revenue as compliant with the Small Benefit Scheme. The typical year-round programme works like this-
For more about the Small Benefit Scheme, download our definitive guide -