The lunch benefit is a personal benefit intended for the individual's own meals. Lunch can be paid for entirely or partially using the electronic lunch balance through the SmartumPay app, or with Smartum vouchers, and any remaining amount can be covered with another form of payment if necessary.
How can I adjust my lunch balance and what should I do if I don't want to use the lunch benefit?
If your employer provides you with a lunch benefit but you choose not to use it, you don't need to take any action. The lunch benefit is allocated to you monthly, but charges are only applied for the balances used. If you do not use the lunch benefit, there will be no deduction.
If you have the SmartumSaldo benefit and your employer offers you a monthly lunch balance benefit, you can adjust the amount for the upcoming month if desired. You can modify the lunch balance by logging into the Smartum online service.
After logging in, you will see the section labeled "Registrations". Here, you will find all the balance benefits you have registered for. For the upcoming lunch balance benefit, if the registration period set by your employer is still open, you will see an "Edit" button. Click on "Edit", and on the next page, you will see the options provided by your employer. You can also decline the upcoming month's lunch benefit (option €0.00) if preferred. Choose the appropriate option and save the changes. These changes will remain in place for future months unless you make further adjustments.
Taxation of the Lunch Benefit
The lunch benefit is a tax-subsidized benefit. The employer can provide the lunch benefit either as a fringe benefit or as a lunch deduction.
Fringe Benefit
75% of the benefit is taxable income based on the employee's personal tax rate.
The employer pays the benefit, and the employee only pays taxes.
A fringe benefit paid as part of the salary also contributes to pension accrual.
Lunch Deduction
The taxable value of the lunch benefit is 75% (but at least €8.50).
The employee pays 75% of the taxable value as their own contribution. The employer can withhold the amount from the salary, or the employee can use the SmartumPay app's "My Wallet" feature to pay their contribution, where they can load desired amounts of money themselves