Is it true that "company meals and gift certificates are tax-free because they are given in kind"?

“Meals in the company cafeteria and gift certificates from the company are given as things, so no tax is charged on them.” Have you heard this?

This is only half right. For meals, there is indeed a way for them to be tax-free. However, as a rule, both of two requirements must be met. Gift certificates are taxed as salary, as the general rule says. Whether something is given as a thing does not decide the matter.

Six tax terms, explained first

Here are plain-language explanations of the terms used in this article.

• Salary in kind (genbutsu kyūyo) = receiving pay as goods or services instead of money
• Employment income (kyūyo shotoku) = income from salary, allowances and the like received from a company
• Taxation (kazei) = including something in the tax calculation. Tax-free (hikazei) means not including it
• Value of the meal (shokuji no kagaku) = the cost the company incurred for the meal. For a boxed lunch, the purchase price
• Face value (kenmengaku) = the amount printed on a gift certificate
• Withholding (gensen chōshū) = the system in which the company deducts income tax in advance when it pays salary

Conclusion

Our verdict is “HALF TRUE.” Company cafeteria meals and boxed lunches are tax-free if two requirements are met. Gift certificates are salary, as the general rule says. Being “in kind” is not, by itself, a reason for no tax to be charged.

Salary is not only what is paid in money

The starting point is Article 36 of the Income Tax Act. It sets out how the amount of income is determined.

その年分の各種所得の金額の計算上収入金額とすべき金額又は総収入金額に算入すべき金額は、別段の定めがあるものを除き、その年において収入すべき金額（金銭以外の物又は権利その他経済的な利益をもつて収入する場合には、その金銭以外の物又は権利その他経済的な利益の価額）とする。 ［1］

The wording is a little stiff, so put plainly, it says this. A year’s income is counted at the amount you are to receive in that year. When you receive goods or rights other than money, they are counted at the price of those goods or rights.

Paragraph 2 says at what point the price is set.

前項の金銭以外の物又は権利その他経済的な利益の価額は、当該物若しくは権利を取得し、又は当該利益を享受する時における価額とする。 ［1］

Put plainly, it is the price at the time you receive it. Even if the price later rises or falls, it is counted at the price on the day you received it.

The National Tax Agency (NTA) calls salary received in forms other than money “salary in kind.”

これらの経済的利益を一般に現物給与といい、原則として給与所得の収入金額とされます ［4］

This is where the article branches. As a rule, salary in kind is taxed. Only items with a special treatment set out for them are tax-free. Meals have such a special treatment. Gift certificates do not.

Company meals and boxed lunches are tax-free when two requirements are met

The special treatment for meals is summarized in the NTA Tax Answer.

役員や使用人に支給する食事は、次の2つの要件をどちらも満たしていれば、給与として課税されません。 ［2］

These are the two requirements.

（1）役員や使用人が食事の価額の半分以上を負担していること。 （2）次の金額が1か月当たり7,500円（消費税および地方消費税の額を除きます。）以下であること。 （食事の価額）－（役員や使用人が負担している金額） ［2］

Put plainly, both of the following must be met at the same time. First, the employee pays at least half of the price of the meal. Second, the part the company bears is ¥7,500 or less per month.

When checking against ¥7,500, count the amount excluding consumption tax. Fractions of less than ¥10 are rounded down. These points are also stated on the same page.

This ¥7,500 applies to meals provided on or after April 1, 2026. Before that, it was ¥3,500. The NTA has announced the amendment of the circular and the date it starts to apply.

令和８年３月31日に、食事の現物支給に係る所得税の非課税限度額を月額7,500円（改正前：月額3,500円）に引き上げる法令解釈通達の改正を行いました（令和８年３月31日付課法12−１ほか２課共同「所得税基本通達の制定について」の一部改正について（法令解釈通達））。 ［7］

引上げ後の非課税限度額（7,500円）については、令和８年４月１日以後に支給する食事について適用されます。 ［7］

Put plainly, the circular raising the limit was amended on March 31, 2026, and the new limit is used for meals provided from April. For 2026, meals provided through March are judged against ¥3,500 per month and meals provided from April against ¥7,500 per month, month by month according to when the meals were provided.

The same rule is also written in a circular. An NTA Q&A example quotes that circular.

使用者が役員又は使用人に対し食事を支給する場合に、その役員又は使用人から実際に徴収している対価の額がその食事の価額の50％相当額以上であり、かつ、使用者の負担額が月額7,500円を超えないときには、その役員又は使用人が食事の支給により受ける経済的利益はないものとして取り扱っています（所得税基本通達36−38の2）。 ［3］

What happens if even one requirement is not met is also set out.

この要件を満たしていなければ、食事の価額から役員や使用人の負担している金額を控除した残額が給与として課税されます。 ［2］

Put plainly, the price of the meal minus what the employee paid becomes salary. Even if the employee pays at least half, it is taxed if the company’s share exceeds ¥7,500 a month. Meeting only one of the two is not enough.

Checking the amounts with Person A and Person B

It is hard to follow in words alone, so let us calculate with two examples. In both, the company provides a ¥500 boxed lunch 20 times a month. All amounts in this section exclude consumption tax.

Person A meets both requirements. The employee’s share is exactly half, and the company’s share is ¥5,000 a month. In this case, the employee is treated as receiving no economic benefit from the meals.

Person B meets neither requirement. The employee’s share is 20%, which does not reach half. The company’s share is ¥8,000 a month, which exceeds ¥7,500. In this case, the difference of ¥400 multiplied by 20 meals, ¥8,000, becomes salary.

Even when the employee pays at least half, the company’s share can exceed ¥7,500. For example, take a ¥1,000 meal for which the employee pays ¥600. The employee’s share is 60%, which meets the requirement, but the company’s share is ¥400. At 20 meals a month that is ¥8,000, and it is taxed.

What goes into “the value of the meal”?

The judgment changes depending on what price you take for one meal. The NTA explains two cases separately.

1 弁当などを購入して支給している場合には、業者に支払う購入金額 2 社員食堂などで会社が作った食事を支給している場合には、食事の材料費や調味料など食事を作るために直接かかった費用の合計額 ［2］

Put plainly, for a boxed lunch it is the amount paid to the supplier. For a company cafeteria, apart from the menu price, it is the total of the costs directly incurred to make that meal, such as ingredients and seasonings.

The same way of counting is said to be usable when the cafeteria’s operation is outsourced to an outside contractor.

会社などが社員食堂の運営を外部の業者に委託している場合であっても、その外部の業者に対して社内の食堂や調理場等の施設を無償で使用させ、かつ、食事の材料等を提供している場合（その外部の業者が材料等の仕入れを行うこととしている場合で、その外部の業者が会社に請求する材料費その他の費用の内訳が適正かつ明確に区分されているときを含みます。）には、上記２と同様に、食事の材料費や調味料など食事を作るために直接かかった費用の合計額を食事の価額として差し支えありません。 ［2］

Conditions are attached. The company lets the contractor use the facilities free of charge, and the company provides the ingredients (if the contractor buys them, the breakdown of the ingredient costs is clearly separated). In that arrangement, the actual costs such as ingredients may be taken as the value of the meal.

Pitfall 1: Subsidizing meals in cash makes the full amount salary

This is where mistakes are most common. It is the arrangement in which the company does not provide meals but subsidizes meal costs in cash. The tax-free treatment for meals cannot be used for this arrangement.

使用者と飲食店との間の契約により使用人等の食事代を使用者が飲食店に支払う場合は、この「使用者が役員又は使用人に対し食事を支給する場合」に該当するものとして取り扱って差し支えありませんが、使用人等が飲食店に食事代を支払い、使用者が現金で食事代を補助する場合には、食事という現物ではなく金銭を支給するものであることから、この「使用者が役員又は使用人に対し食事を支給する場合」に該当せず、昭和59年7月26日直法6−5、直所3−8「深夜勤務に伴う夜食の現物支給に代えて支給する金銭に対する所得税の取扱いについて」に該当するときを除き、補助をする全額が給与として課税されることとなります。 ［3］

Put plainly, it says this. If the company pays the restaurant directly, it can be treated as providing meals. If the employee pays at the restaurant and the company later hands over cash, that is providing money. So the tax-free treatment for meals cannot be used, and the full amount of the subsidy becomes salary.

The exception is meals for late-night shifts. The Tax Answer also states the amount condition.

食事を支給するのではなく、現金で食事代の補助をする場合には、深夜勤務者に夜食の支給ができないために1食当たり650円（消費税および地方消費税の額を除きます。）以下の金額を支給する場合を除き、補助をする全額が給与として課税されます。 ［2］

This ¥650 was also raised by the same circular amendment of March 31, 2026. Before the amendment, it was ¥300.

使用者が深夜勤務に伴う夜食の現物支給に代えて支給する金銭について所得税を課税しないこととされる１回の支給額についても、同様に650円以下（改正前：300円以下）に引き上げる法令解釈通達の改正を行っています（令和８年３月31日付課法12−３ほか１課共同「深夜勤務に伴う夜食の現物支給に代えて支給する金銭に対する所得税の取扱いについて」の一部改正について（法令解釈通達））。 ［7］

There is one more exception that is easy to forget: meals during overtime or night and holiday duty.

なお、残業または宿日直を行うときに支給する食事は、無料で支給しても給与として課税しなくてもよいことになっています。 ［2］

Even if meals during overtime are provided free of charge, they are not taxed. However, this applies to meals during overtime or night and holiday duty. This exception cannot be used for providing free lunch every day.

Pitfall 2: Gift certificates do not fit within the tax-free treatment for commemorative gifts

Commemorative gifts have a treatment that makes them tax-free. These are items given for a company’s founding anniversary or in recognition of long service. For long-service gifts, one of the requirements is that the amount be within what is socially considered reasonable in light of the length of service, position and the like.［5］ However, gift certificates are outside this treatment.

Commemorative gifts such as those for a founding anniversary have an amount requirement. One of the requirements is that the expected disposal value of the gift be ¥10,000 or less.

（2） 記念品の処分見込価額による評価額が10,000円（消費税および地方消費税の額を除きます。）以下であること。 ［5］

On top of that, gift certificates are stated to be outside this treatment.

記念品の支給や旅行・観劇への招待費用の負担に代えて現金、商品券などを支給する場合には、その全額（商品券の場合は券面額）が給与として課税されます。 ［5］

Put plainly, if you give gift certificates instead of a commemorative gift, the full amount printed on the certificates is salary. Even though commemorative gifts such as those for a founding anniversary need not be taxed if they are ¥10,000 or less, gift certificates do not fit within that treatment.

An NTA Q&A example covers a company that gave all employees ¥10,000 worth of gift certificates for its 50th founding anniversary. The answer is that they are taxed. The reason is also given.

この取扱いを受けるのは記念品に係る経済的利益に限られるため、記念品に代えて支給する金銭については、給与等として課税の対象になります。 ［6］

It goes on to explain the nature of gift certificates themselves.

照会のように、会社の創業記念として商品券の支給が行われる場合、その支給を受けた各従業員は当該商品券と引き換えに、商品を自由に選択して入手することが可能となりますので、商品券の支給については金銭による支給と異ならないといえます。 ［6］

Put plainly, with gift certificates you can choose any goods you like, so it is no different from giving money. That is the explanation for why they are salary. Not only when given as commemorative gifts, gift certificates are, as a rule, salary.

What to do

What to do differs for meals and gift certificates.

On the meal side, the key is to record two amounts together every month: the value of the meal and the amount collected from the employee. With these two, you can check later whether the requirements were met.

On the gift certificate side, the key is to assume they are taxable before you hand them out. For gift certificates given to employees, the face value becomes salary. If you record the date and amount given so that the amount is known before the year-end adjustment, you will not run into trouble later.

Summary

The explanation “tax-free because it is given in kind” holds only for meals, and only with conditions. The employee pays at least half of the value of the meal, and the company’s share is ¥7,500 or less a month (for meals provided on or after April 1, 2026). If these two are met, the meals are not salary.

Gift certificates are no different from money, in that you can choose what to buy. Even though they are given as things, they are taxed as salary. Include the face value of gift certificates in salary as well when calculating withholding.［5］［6］［8］

If you are unsure whether your company’s meal subsidy meets the requirements, consult a licensed Japanese tax accountant (zeirishi).

出典

• ［1］所得税法第36条（収入金額）— e-Gov法令検索　確認日：2026-10-29
• ［2］No.2594 食事を支給したとき— 国税庁　確認日：2026-10-29
• ［3］使用者が使用人等に対し食事代として金銭を支給した場合（質疑応答事例・源泉所得税）— 国税庁　確認日：2026-10-29
• ［4］No.2508 給与所得となるもの— 国税庁　確認日：2026-10-29
• ［5］No.2591 創業記念品や永年勤続表彰記念品の支給をしたとき— 国税庁　確認日：2026-10-29
• ［6］創業50周年を記念して従業員に支給した商品券（質疑応答事例・源泉所得税）— 国税庁　確認日：2026-10-29
• ［7］食事の現物支給に係る所得税の非課税限度額の引上げについて— 国税庁　確認日：2026-10-29
• ［8］No.2110 事業主がしなければならない源泉徴収— 国税庁　確認日：2026-10-29

Note: This article is based on laws and official information as of October 29, 2026. It is a translation of the Japanese original; if the two differ, the Japanese version prevails. Quotations from laws and official sources are given in the original Japanese, followed by unofficial reference translations. Sources are based on laws (e-Gov) and official materials of the NTA, all in Japanese. If a correction is needed after publication, a correction record will be added at the end of this article (Correction policy).