The Turkish Council of State 10th Chamber, with its decision numbered 2023/170 and decision numbered 2024/1853, annulled the subparagraph (a) of the seventh paragraph of the Article 97 of the Social Security Procedures Regulation and the Articles 2.1.2 and 2.1.4 of The Employer Procedures Circular of the Social Security Institution (SSI) numbered 2020/20 which is headed as “Meal Allowance.”
In this regard, the procedures and principles of the Insurance Premium Earnings Exemption to be applied to meal allowances provided to employees by employers, effective as of 01/01/2025, are being determined by the circular numbered 2024/17 published by the Social Security Institution on the date of 31/12/2024.
Amendments were made to the Employer Procedures Circular numbered 2020/20 with the mentioned circular numbered 2024/17.
In this regard, the premium-based earnings exemption application applied to the meal allowances that are paid by the employers to the employee valid as of 01/01/2025 are explained below:
- Meal Allowance
The Social Security Institution Board of Directors has determined the daily amount of meal allowance to be exempted from premium-based earnings as TRL 158.00, effective as of 1st of January 2025.
The amount to be included in premium-based earnings from the payments made to the employee under the name of meal allowance and notified to the SSI with the Monthly Premium and Service Document or Withholding and Premium Service Declaration to be given as to start from the period of January 2025 will be calculated as follows:
Daily Exemption Amount = TRL 158.00
Number of Days Actually Worked During the Month x TRL 158.00 (Daily Exemption Amount) = Monthly Exemption Amount
Paid Meal Allowance Cost – Exemption Amount = Meal Allowance Cost to be Included in Premium-Based Earnings.
As an important note, meal allowance cannot be considered as part of the minimum wage and will need to be provided in addition to the minimum wage.
- Application in Case of Meals Provided in Kind to Insured Persons at the Workplace or in the Outbuildings of the Workplace
If employers provide meals at the workplace or in the outbuildings with their own means, the costs of these meals provided to employees will not be included in the income subject to insurance premiums without any limitation.
Example 1: If Employer (A) provides meals to the insured persons he employs by using the kitchen and dining hall at the workplace, the expenses incurred for the meal will not be included in the income subject to premiums regardless of the amount of the cost and not to be limited to above limits.
Regardless of where the meal is produced and cooked, if the meal provided from outside is distributed to the employees at the workplace or in the outbuildings, the meal costs will not be included in the income subject to premiums as well.
Example 2: Employer A has made an agreement with restaurant B to provide lunch to the workers at his workplace. In this case, all payments made to restaurant B in return for the invoice will not be included in the income subject to premiums of the insured persons regardless of its amount and regardless of the limit mentioned above.
- Application in Cash Meal Payments Made to Third Parties by Employers for Insured Persons
If employers agree with third parties to provide meals to insured persons, if employees eat outside the workplace, at restaurants or dining hall facilities of third parties, and if the meal’s cost is paid to third parties in cash directly by the employer, the entire meal fee will not be included in the premium-based earnings.
Example 3: Employer A has agreed to receive meal service from restaurant B for its employees. The employees physically eat at restaurant B. In this case, the payments made under the name of meal fee for the insured persons receiving meal service will not be included in the premium-based earnings.
- Application in Cash Meal Fees Provided to Insured Persons by Employers
The daily amount of TRL 158.00 of the cash payments made to employees under the name of meal allowance will not be included in the premium-based earnings.
Example 4: Insured Person A was paid a monthly meal allowance of TRL 5,000 in January 2025 the calculation of the wages based to social-insurance premium will be made as follows:
Considering that the insured person actually worked 22 days in the relevant month, the amount to be included in the premium-based earnings from the payments made under the name of meal allowance will be calculated as;
Daily Exemption Amount = TRL 158.00
TRL 158.00 x 22 Workdays = TRL 3,476.00 (Monthly Exemption Amount)
TRL 5,000.00 – TRL 3,476.00 = TRL 1,524.00 (Meal Allowance to be Included in Premium-Based Earnings)
If some workers working at the same workplace are provided with meals at the workplace and some insured individuals are paid in cash, the daily amount of TRL 158.00 of the payments made under the name of meal allowance to the insured individuals who are paid in cash will not be included in the premium-based earnings.
Example 5: If employer A provides meals to 20 workers at the workplace and pays TRL 250.00 in cash per day as a meal allowance to the remaining 30 insured, the amount of TRL 158.00 per day of the payments made under the name of meal allowance to the 30 insured who were paid in cash will not be included in the premium-based earnings, but the part exceeding this amount will be subject to insurance premium.
However, if some employees are provided with meals at the workplace and some employees are provided with meal allowance, attention should be paid to the general condition of not providing meal service at the workplace in the application of the exception. If the same employee also receives cash or in-kind meal assistance while eating at the workplace, the exception should not be applied to cash or in-kind meal assistance. An exception should be applied to cash or in-kind meal allowances provided for situations such as remote working or assignment outside the workplace when there is a cafeteria at the workplace.
- Application in Cases Where Meal Cost is Covered by Meal Coupons, Meal Cards, Meal Checks, etc.
In the decision numbered 2023/170 and 2024/1853 of the Turkish Council of State 10th Chamber, if the meal aid is provided as “providing food” in kind, providing the meal inside or outside the workplace and its outbuildings has been evaluated within the scope of “in-kind payments”.
In the same decision, the Turkish Council of State has also evaluated the provision of meal aid outside the workplace by making cash payments to third parties as to be evaluated as “in-kind payment”.
When evaluating in-kind aid, it was emphasized that it is not possible for the employee to use the benefit provided for other purposes, and therefore it should be accepted as “in-kind payment”.
In the decision, meal cards, checks and coupons are also classified according to the area of use of the payment. If a meal card, check or coupon is given to the worker only to be used in paying for the meal, the worker’s aid cannot be used for cash or other purposes in place of cash, so the meal card, check or coupon is considered to be considered as in-kind payment, which is to be exempt from the social insurance premium in full.
According to the Turkish Council of State, if the meal card, check or coupon is paid in cash or with means that can be used other than meal payment, it cannot be considered as in-kind payment.
Accordingly, if the meal card, check or coupon cannot be used for cash or other purposes in place of cash other than meal payment, the meal cost amount will not be included in the premium-based earnings.
However, if the meal card, check or coupon can be used for cash or other purposes in place of cash other than meal payment, the daily amount of TRL 158.00 will not be subject to premium-based earnings, but the part exceeding this amount will be subject to insurance premium.
Example 6: If the employer (A) provides meal cards per-month worth TRL 5,000 to the insured employees and the card in question cannot be used for cash or cash substitute purposes other than paying for meals, the amount of TRL 5,000 loaded onto the meal card will not be included in the premium-based earnings.
Example 7: The insured (A) was provided a meal card worth TRL 6,000 in the month of January 2025.
If the insured worked 22 days in the relevant month and the card given could be used for cash or cash substitute purposes other than eating meals, the amount of TRL 6,000 loaded onto the meal card will be included in the premium-based earnings will be calculated as follows:
Daily Exemption Amount = TRL 158.00
TRL 158.00 x 22 Days = TRL 3,476.00 (Monthly Exemption Amount)
TRL 6,000.00 – TRL 3,476.00 = TRL 2,524.00 (Meal Allowance to be Included in Premium Earnings)
