The 10th Chamber of the Council of State has annulled key provisions governing the meal exemption limits applied to cash payments and benefits provided through meal vouchers, meal cards, and other similar tools by employers to insured employees. The annulment affects regulations concerning how these meal allowances are treated in calculating earnings subject to premiums under the Turkish Social Security Institution (SSI).
Overview of the Annulment Decision
The decision particularly targets the regulation and circular that previously outlined the exemption limit for meal payments, which was partially considered as part of the earnings subject to social security premiums under Article 4, paragraph 1(a) of the relevant law. The decision removes the exemption limit on cash payments made by employers to third-party vendors for meals, as well as meal payments provided through instruments like vouchers and cards.
The annulment refers specifically to:
of the Social Insurance Transactions Regulation, amended by the regulation published in the Official Gazette on November 1, 2022. This article exempted meal payments, as long as meals were not provided on-site at the workplace.
published on December 2, 2022, which clarified the practical application of the meal allowance rules under the new regulation.
Key Points of the Annulled Regulation
Under the regulation, meal allowances provided in cash or through vouchers/cards that met the daily limit of 23.65% of the gross daily minimum wage were exempt from inclusion in the earnings base for social security premiums. The main points in the circular included:
If the employer provided cash to a third-party vendor on behalf of employees for meals consumed outside the workplace, the payment amount calculated at 23.65% of the daily gross minimum wage for each day worked was not included in the earnings subject to premiums.
Payments made via meal vouchers, cards, or similar tools—provided the value didn’t exceed the daily limit—were also excluded from earnings subject to premiums, as long as these payments were made directly to third-party vendors against invoices.
The Council of State’s Reasoning
In its May 8, 2024 decision (Numbered 2023/170 E. and 2024/185), the 10th Chamber of the Council of State ruled that meal allowances should be evaluated differently depending on whether they were provided in-kind or in cash. The court distinguished between:
Payments made through meal vouchers, cards, or similar tools, where the funds are restricted to meal purchases and cannot be converted into cash or used for other purposes, are considered in-kind benefits. These payments, according to the court, should not be classified as cash allowances and thus should remain exempt from premiums.
Meal allowances paid directly in cash or through instruments that could be used for non-meal-related expenses are treated as cash payments. When these exceed the daily limit (23.65% of the daily minimum wage), they become subject to social security premium deductions.
The Council of State found that the regulations did not appropriately reflect these distinctions and thus decided to annul them for being inconsistent with the law.
Implications and Next Steps
The annulment has introduced uncertainty regarding how employers should handle meal allowances moving forward. Employers are awaiting further guidance from the Social Security Institution (SSI) to clarify how the ruling will impact the calculation of social security premiums on meal allowances. It is anticipated that the SSI will issue new instructions or a general letter to provide clearer directives on the issue.
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