Exclusions from the gross monthly income ceiling for tax-free allowance

As a result of the fact that, starting July 2024, the gross minimum wage has increased from 3,300 lei to 3,700 lei, the non-taxable amount of the minimum wage has also been increased from 200 lei to 300 lei, without, however, increasing the monthly gross income ceiling of 4,000 lei. Specifically, the 300 lei deduction applies to a monthly earnings ceiling of 4,000 lei or less, a ceiling that until now included both salary income and various vouchers, the most common of which are, of course, meal vouchers.

Because the amount of the minimum wage of 3,700 lei applicable as of July 1 itself came very close to the monthly gross income ceiling of 4,000 lei, which should also include any wage bonuses, some employees risked losing the benefit of the tax exemption. In this situation, in order to maintain the effectiveness of the non-taxation tax facility of 300 lei applicable as of July 1, 2024, the Government found a compromise solution by removing from the monthly calculation for the monthly gross monthly income ceiling of 4,000 lei the most common wage allowances: meal vouchers and food allowances.

Following the publication of Emergency Ordinance no. 87/2024, starting with the income from salaries and assimilated to salaries for the month of July 2024, in the gross income as defined in Art. (1)-(3) of Law no. 227/2015 on the Tax Code, as subsequently amended and supplemented, which is taken into account for the establishment of the monthly ceiling of 4,000 lei inclusive, provided for in Article LXXIII of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 115/2023, as subsequently amended and supplemented, shall not include the value of meal vouchers, respectively the food allowance, as the case may be, granted according to the law, for the period July-December 2024.

It follows from the text of the ordinance that, in order to benefit from the deduction of 300 lei during the period July-December 2024, the vouchers to be excluded from the calculation of the gross income of 4,000 lei are those actually granted during this period regardless of the month for which they are granted. Given that meal vouchers can be granted, in practice, in the current month for the following month, in the current month for the current month or in the current month for the previous month, the Chamber of Tax Consultants has asked the Ministry of Finance to clarify the situation of meal vouchers granted to employees that can be excluded from the calculation of the 4,000 lei ceiling, so that they can benefit from the 300 lei deduction.