Social Security Institution has regulated the SSI premium threshold with regards to the meal vouchers / meal tickets (benefit in kinds) with the Communiqué no: 2022/22 which is applicable as of December, 1 2022.

The new regulation can be summarized as below:

The employers can prefer to provide meal vouchers / tickets, etc as a meal allowance to the employees.

Based on that method, with regards to the food coupons, meal cards, meal vouchers / tickets, etc., the amount to be found by multiplying 23.65% of the daily gross minimum wage with the number of actual workdays will not be subject to social security premium deduction.

The exceed amount will be subject to social security premium deduction.

Example: The employer gives meal voucher / ticket amount of 1,500.00 TRY for 2022/December. The employer has 22 actual / active workdays in December. The amount subject to social security premium would be calculated as below:

215.70 TRY x 23,65% = 51.01 TRY (Daily exemption amount)

51.01 TRY x 22 workdays= 1,122.22 TRY (Monthly exemption amount)

1,500.00 TRY – 1,122.22 TRY = 377.78 TRY (The amount subject to social security premium deduction).

Important Notes for the Meal Allowance

This exemption on the meal cards/vouchers/tickets/coupons would only be applicable if these meal cards/vouchers/tickets/coupons are only used for meals. If the officials detect a collusion, there would be a penalty per the article 89 of the Law no: 5510 (In Turkish).

You can reach the relevant Communiqué via that link. (In Turkish).

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.