With the 2025 tax year approaching, many taxpayers are wondering how to optimise their tax return and increase their disposable income. The flexible compensation, a tool that is still little known, provides access to benefits exempt from personal income tax and maximise tax savings. However, despite its advantages, only the 53,3 % of employees knows her and barely the 5,2 % knows that it can allocate up to 30 % of his gross salary to this type of services.
To help teams understand how to maximise their savings and increase their disposable income, Edenred, the multi-solution digital platform specialising in employee engagement and social benefits, presents a guide with the most important key points on the impact of flexible compensation on tax returns.
The 2025 income tax campaign will begin on 2 April 2025. From that day until 30 June, taxpayers can file their income tax return online, with all the information about their income, deductible expenses and other tax matters that occurred during the tax year.
In this context, flexible compensation is presented as a key tool for optimising wages and reduce the tax burden. This system allows a portion of the gross salary to be earmarked each month for certain tax-exempt benefits. Personal Income Tax (IRPF); This means that goods and services provided by companies such as Ticket Restaurant, childcare allowances or transport are not considered as part of the gross salary which is subject to taxation.
As he explains Manuel Asla, Marketing and Product Director of Edenred Spain, “if a person intends to 1,980 per year to their meals through from Ticket Restaurant, i.e. in flexible compensation, this amount shall be exempt from tax matters, The net income would be increased. Without this system, it would have to pay a 20 % in personal income tax, which would mean losing 396 euros of their disposable income”.”
To better understand the impact, if we take as a benchmark the average wage in Spain in 2022 (26,948.87 euros according to the INE), a worker who uses flexible compensation in Ticket Restaurant and Edenred Mobility could save up to 1.023,30 euros per year, If you were to spend part of your salary on these benefits for 11 months, before taxation.
According to Edenred, it is important to point out that participation in flexible compensation plans is volunteer and cannot be imposed by the company. In addition, the amount allocated to these benefits may not exceed 30% of gross salary of professionals.
One of the key aspects of flexible compensation is that the company automatically applies the exemption in the payroll, so that, when accessing the draft of the income tax return, these amounts are already excluded in the income from work box. This means that:
«During the tax season, the benefits of flexible compensation become even more evident. This tool not only allows real tax savings for teams, but also strengthens the value proposition of companies, positioning them as workplaces more committed to the well-being of their teams».», Asla stresses.
