Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 section 89

Reduction for meal vouchers

Section 89 provides a small daily tax-free allowance for meal vouchers given to employees, subject to certain conditions.

• Up to 15 pence per working day is exempt from tax when an employer provides a meal voucher to an employee.
• The exemption applies only to working days on which a meal voucher is actually provided.
• The relief does not apply where the meal voucher already qualifies for the separate non-cash voucher exemption or the subsidised meals exemption.
• This provision was originally an extra-statutory concession (ESC A2 on luncheon vouchers), which was formally written into legislation as a minor change to the law.