• Activating the Benefit and Loading the Budget
  • 1. Loading the Budget
    • Automatic Loading
    • SEPA Direct Debit Mandate
  • 2. Activating Vouchers for Employees 
    • Ending the Benefit 
    • Pausing the Benefit 
    • Details on Configuring the Vouchers
    • €50 Non-Cash Benefit Limit
  • Inviting Employees
• Supplementary Agreement to the Employment Contract
• Accounting for the Non-Cash Benefit & Integration into Payroll
• Documentation in the Payroll Account
• Accounting via Payroll
  • Configuring the Wage Type
  • Receiving Import File for Payroll Software
  • Early Receipt of Export File for Payroll Before Month-End
• Recording Simplification
• Fallback Vouchers as a Safety Feature
• Additional Information on Voucher Allocation
• Legal Foundations (and Information for Tax Advisors)
  • How is it ensured that Probonio’s solution for the non-cash benefit is legally compliant?
• Video Tutorial

Activating the Benefit and Loading the Budget

In the Employer Portal, the Vouchers benefit for employees can be activated and individually configured. We recommend first loading your credit budget during setup and then inviting your employees, because vouchers will only be activated and usable by your employees once the budget is funded.

1. Loading the Budget

First, load your voucher budget for at least one month. The budget must cover at least the total amount of vouchers available to employees for that month. For example, for ten employees each to receive a voucher budget of €50, the minimum amount is €500 (10x50€=500€).

Note: A budget loading always consists of two steps:

1. Registering the budget loading in the Employer Portal.
2. Money transaction (possible via prepayment bank transfer and via SEPA business direct debit).

Only when both steps are completed and we have received the money will the amount be credited to your account in the Employer Portal and be available for your employees.

To register the loading, click in the menu on Non-Cash Benefit > Orders.

On the newly opened page, click the Credit tab at the top right, then click the Load button.

A new pop-up window will open. The expected total amount for one month is automatically calculated and displayed roughly in the middle right. Enter the desired amount in the amount field on the left and complete the process by clicking Place Order with Obligation to Pay.

You will shortly receive an email from us (sender email address: info@probonio.de) with the payment details needed for the transfer. The invoice is usually sent within the next 24 hours. Once we have received your payment and processed your order, you will receive a confirmation email from info@probonio.de.

Automatic Loading

By default, Automatic Loading is activated for you. Because of this, you will receive an invoice from us shortly before the end of each month covering the expected costs for the upcoming month. If you activate the Vouchers or Tokens of Appreciation benefit for one or more employees during the current month, you will receive a separate invoice for this (usually within the next 24 hours). The registration of the budget loading in the Employer Portal is also automated in these cases.
Deactivating automatic loading is possible but not recommended, as you would then have to monitor everything yourself, risking that your employees cannot select vouchers.

Note: Automatic loading does not mean that the budget is automatically loaded for you! You must still make the corresponding transfer for the invoice. If you want this to be automated as well, we recommend setting up a SEPA direct debit mandate.

SEPA Direct Debit Mandate

To further reduce administrative effort for you, we recommend setting up a SEPA direct debit mandate. You can do this in your Employer Portal: https://manager.probonio.de/settings/payment. Instructions for setup can be found here: SEPA Business Direct Debit Mandate Instructions. The perfect complement to automatic loading!

Vouchers are only activated once the corresponding budget has been loaded.

Employees can only use the voucher budget once the payment has been recorded and the loading is complete. This process usually takes 3-4 business days.

Note: If you do not receive automatic invoices but want to set up SEPA, you can manually load your budget at any time as described under Heading 1. Loading the Budget. We recommend loading the budget for multiple months in advance here. Only as much budget as employees actually use each month is consumed. This keeps your effort low and allows your employees to use the Vouchers benefit as desired.

2. Activating Vouchers for Employees

First, open the overview column and navigate to Vouchers > Employees.

Now switch to the Benefit Inactive column. Select the corresponding employees and click the Configure for Employees Now button.

Tip: To select all employees at once, check the box to the left of Employees.

Fill in your desired details in the pop-up window and complete the configuration by clicking Activate.

The current month is preset as the start date, and the maximum amount of €50 is preset. You can individually set both the start and end dates as well as the monthly amount. If you do not specify an end date, the employee will automatically receive the set voucher budget every month continuously.

Please note: Vouchers can only be assigned for the current month until the 25th. From the 26th onward, assignment is only possible for the following month.

Your employees will now automatically move to the Benefit Active column. Information about the amount and from when the benefit is active will be automatically added in the overview.

Ending the Benefit 

Here you can also end or edit the configuration for an employee.

You can choose whether to deactivate the benefit as soon as possible or schedule a deactivation.

Pausing the Benefit 

You also have the option to pause a benefit for a specific period.

To do this, go to Employees under the corresponding benefit and into the Benefit Active column. Select the respective employee and click Change Configuration for x Employees at the top right.

A new window will then open. Go to the Pause Benefit tab and enter the desired period during which the benefit should not be active.

Alternatively, you can edit this setting directly in the employee profile.

To do this, go to Master Data and select the respective employee.

Click the small Stop icon to the right of the benefit you want to pause temporarily.

A new window will open again, where you can enter the desired pause period.

After saving your settings with Save, you can see in the employee profile that the benefit is only active until the specified period and will be re-listed from the month you specified.

Details on Configuring Vouchers

The same applies to the Vouchers benefit: The decision about which employees have access to the benefit and to what extent is entirely up to you – the benefit can be activated, deactivated, or adjusted by you at any time independently. A maximum of €50 per employee can be paid out monthly. The maximum amount of €50 can also be granted in full to part-time employees, trainees, or working students.

€50 Non-Cash Benefit Limit

Unlike meal subsidies or mobility budgets, Probonio’s voucher solution falls under the non-cash benefit limit.

Important
If an employee receives a €50 voucher, no other benefits that fall under the non-cash benefit may be granted to that employee. This includes, for example, corporate fitness, health budgets (bKV), fuel vouchers. If the €50 limit is exceeded, wage tax and social security contributions are due on the entire amount.

3. Inviting Employees

You have now successfully set up the benefit for all your employees. Your budget is also sufficiently funded. As a final step, you can invite your employees collectively on your desired day to use the app.

Supplementary Agreement to the Employment Contract

We recommend concluding a supplementary agreement to the employment contract with your employees. A free template is provided by your personal Probonio contact and is also available for download at the end of this article.

Accounting for the Non-Cash Benefit & Integration into Payroll

There are 3 ways to document/account for the non-cash benefit for tax purposes:

• Documentation in the Payroll Account
• Configuring the Wage Type
• Accounting via Payroll
• Receiving Import File for Payroll Software
• Early Receipt of Export File for Payroll Before Month-End
• Recording Simplification

Documentation in the Payroll Account

You regularly document the receipt of all non-cash benefits in the payroll account. For this, you can export the list of all non-cash benefits received from Probonio monthly, annually, or upon request by your tax office. The corresponding CSV export can be found in the Probonio Employer Portal under Non-Cash Benefit > Orders > List Button on the right side.)

Accounting via Payroll

Do you want to additionally document the non-cash benefit on the payslip for better visualization for your employees? Then we will gladly send you a monthly accounting of all vouchers received by your employees as an import file for the payroll software of your choice. Configure your desired payroll software (e.g., DATEV LODAS, DATEV Payroll & Salary, SAP, SAGE, Lexware, etc.) in the Probonio Employer Portal.

If the accounting system has changed, please contact Probonio Support and we will make this change for you. All information about wage types and email addresses, etc., can then be entered by you for each benefit.

Payroll clerks or tax advisors can import the relevant data into the payroll software used with just a few clicks, so that the non-cash benefits automatically appear on the monthly payslip. Documentation in the payroll account is thus also ensured.

Configuring the Wage Type

If not already present, a wage type for the non-cash benefit must be created in the payroll software, e.g., DATEV. The wage type for the non-cash benefit is usually configured as tax-free and social security-free (FFJ) with automatic net deduction. Due to the tax-free wage type and net deduction, the net salary paid via payroll remains unchanged, as the benefit is received as a tax-free voucher.

A complete payroll example is attached at the end of the article.

Receiving Import File for Payroll Software

Navigate in the menu to Non-Cash Benefit and then to the tab Payroll Data Export:

Here you can select your payroll accounting system. Most tax offices use DATEV. DATEV offers two payroll programs: LODAS and Payroll & Salary.

You can also activate monthly automatic sending to up to three email addresses here. This ensures that the non-cash benefit is always accounted for on time.

Be sure to check Send payroll data reports to me automatically by email every month

Under Tax Office Data, enter your client data used to identify your company with your tax office. Request your advisor number/client number directly from your tax office. You must enter this data once for configuring the integration in the Employer Portal. The same applies to the wage types.

The export file will then be sent automatically on the accounting period + 1 day. For example, you will receive the export for April on May 1.

Early Receipt of Export File for Payroll Before Month-End

If your payroll office processes payroll before the end of the month and requires the complete export file earlier, you can set a deadline in the Employer Portal by which employees must select a voucher in the app. The automatic report will then be sent the following day.

Example: If you set in the Employer Portal that employees must choose vouchers by the 20th of the month, the automatic sending will occur on the 21st of that month.

You can make these settings directly in the Employer Portal under Non-Cash Benefit > Settings > Day of the month by which employees must select vouchers.

Note that you can also manually download the file under Non-Cash Benefit > Payroll Data Export > Generate Payroll Data Export.

Recording Simplification

Don’t want to worry about documenting non-cash benefits? Probonio digitally documents all received non-cash benefits in accordance with legal requirements (e.g., GoBD). Therefore, you can apply to the tax office for a recording simplification for the non-cash benefit. We will gladly provide you with a free template for the application upon request. After approval by your local tax office, your documentation obligation is waived. Probonio will document and archive the time of receipt and type of all non-cash benefits on your behalf for up to 10 years.

Setting a Safety Voucher

For tax reasons, vouchers must always be received by employees in the respective month. This means: If you provide an employee with a voucher in March, they must also select a voucher in March. Otherwise, the credit for your employee expires, although it remains as credit in your Employer Portal.

To prevent credit from expiring for your employees, a automatic voucher allocation is set by default for your employees. This means: If an active employee has not manually selected a voucher by the set deadline and no automatic selection is made, they automatically receive a voucher you specify. By default, a voucher from the provider Rossmann is set here. You can make changes in the Automatically Selected Voucher section. The providers listed here meet the requirements of being available for each value.

If you select No Selection, your employees are responsible for selecting a voucher themselves or setting an individual automatic voucher. Both can be set by your employees via the app.

All other adjustments to the fallback voucher settings can be made directly in the voucher allocation settings.

Navigate via the menu to Non-Cash Benefit > Settings.

Here you can customize all settings as desired. Confirm your changes by clicking the Save button at the top right.

Additional Information on Voucher Allocation

Overall, there are 3 ways employees are guaranteed to receive a voucher:

1. Independent manual selection by employees: Employees independently and manually select their desired voucher for the respective month via the app.
2. Independent automatic selection by employees: If employees do not regularly open the app or always want the same voucher, they can activate the automatic selection option. This function applies on the last day of the month if no manual selection has been made by then.
3. Safety voucher from the employer side: As an employer, you can set up an additional safety level by specifying a safety voucher. According to our standard configuration, an active employee automatically receives a Rossmann voucher at the end of the month if neither manual nor automatic selection was made and the credit would otherwise expire. You can adjust these settings directly in the Employer Portal.

Legal Foundations (and Information for Tax Advisors)

Since January 1, 2022, employers can grant their employees a monthly non-cash benefit of up to €50 monthly or up to €600 annually tax- and social security-free, as the non-cash benefit exemption limit was raised from €44 to €50.

The following rules apply to the €50 non-cash benefit:

• The €50 non-cash benefit must not be paid out via salary transfer or in cash.
• The benefit must be granted in addition to the salary. Salary conversion is not allowed.
• The €50 non-cash benefit must be provided in the form of goods and services.
• The amount of €50 monthly (including VAT) must not be exceeded. If this happens, the entire amount of the non-cash benefit becomes taxable and subject to social security contributions.
• The benefits should be accounted for in the payroll with the amount of the non-cash benefit and the date of receipt.
• Employees are not obliged to use the non-cash benefit in the month of receipt but can accumulate the funds.

The following vouchers and prepaid cards can be granted by the employer or a third party for the purchase of goods or services:

• Vouchers or prepaid cards [...] that entitle the holder to exclusively purchase goods or services from the issuer’s own product range [...]; the issuer’s location and product range are not restricted to domestic only.
• Vouchers or prepaid cards [...] that entitle the holder to exclusively purchase goods or services based on acceptance agreements between issuer/emitter and acceptance points at a limited number of acceptance points domestically.
• Vouchers or prepaid cards [...] that only entitle the holder to purchase goods or services from a very limited range of goods or services; the number of acceptance points and domestic use are irrelevant here. Merely referring to a merchant category is not sufficient [...].
• Vouchers or prepaid cards [...] that only entitle the holder to purchase goods or services exclusively for certain social or tax purposes domestically based on acceptance agreements between issuer/emitter and acceptance points (purpose card); the number of acceptance points is irrelevant.

More information on the non-cash benefit can be found here

• Distinction between cash payment and non-cash benefit: BMF Letter
• Tax treatment of non-cash benefits: § 8 para. 1 EStG
• Regulation of the monthly exemption limit: 8.1 para. 3 LStR / § 8 para. 2 sentence 11 EStG

How is it ensured that Probonio’s solution for the non-cash benefit is legally compliant?

Developed together with tax experts
Probonio was developed in collaboration with tax experts as well as specialized lawyers in labor and social security law and thus meets all legal requirements, e.g., additionality requirement, compliance with non-cash benefit limits, etc.

Confirmation by tax offices
Probonio’s non-cash benefit solution has been reviewed and confirmed by numerous tax offices across Germany. If you still want your own confirmation, we are happy to assist you in requesting a binding ruling from your responsible local tax office.

Regular review of all vouchers by tax experts and tax offices
The merchant vouchers available through Probonio are regularly reviewed by our tax expert and confirmed by the tax office. The vouchers are checked for criteria such as the ZAG (Payment Services Supervision Act) requirements (e.g., restriction of marketplace rules, exclusion of cash payout, etc.).

Video Tutorial

Translation Note: This article has been translated using automatic translation software to provide the reader with a basic understanding of the content. Despite reasonable efforts to provide an accurate translation, we cannot guarantee its accuracy.

If there are any questions regarding the accuracy of the information in the translated article, please refer to the German version of the article, which is the official version.