taken care of —
Christmas hampers, the Dutch work-related costs scheme and VAT
For many companies, this is the first practical question when ordering Christmas hampers: how much can be given tax-free, and what about VAT? Below are the rules in plain English, with a worked example, so you know your Utrecht Christmas hamper is also sorted from a tax point of view.
The work-related costs scheme (WKR)
Giving tax-free within the tax-free budget
A Christmas hamper for your employees counts as pay in kind. If you designate the hamper as final-levy wages (eindheffingsloon) under the work-related costs scheme (werkkostenregeling, WKR), it stays tax-free as long as it — together with your other allowances and benefits in kind — fits within the tax-free budget (vrije ruimte).
In 2026 the tax-free budget is 2.16% of the first €400,000 of your taxable payroll (fiscale loonsom), and 1.18% on everything above that.
Go over the tax-free budget? Then, as the employer, you pay an 80% final levy (eindheffing) on the excess. Your employees won't notice a thing.
Note: for the WKR, amounts count including VAT (btw), while our prices are listed excluding VAT.
VAT (btw)
Deductible up to €227 per recipient
You can deduct the VAT on Christmas hampers and corporate gifts as long as you don't spend more than €227 excluding VAT per recipient per year on gifts, benefits in kind and staff amenities combined (the Decree Excluding Deduction, Besluit uitsluiting aftrek or BUA).
It's an all-or-nothing threshold: if you go over €227 for someone, the entire VAT deduction for that recipient is lost — not just the amount above the threshold.
Good news: all our boxes stay comfortably under that limit, so for a single Utrecht Christmas hamper or corporate gift the VAT is normally simply deductible.
The threshold applies per recipient per financial year — so all gifts to the same person that year are added together.
let's do the maths —
Worked example
Say your taxable payroll is €500,000 and you give 25 colleagues a Utreg Box worth €50 (excl. VAT).
- · Tax-free budget: 2.16% × €400,000 + 1.18% × €100,000 = €9,820
- · Christmas hampers: 25 × ±€56 incl. VAT = ±€1,400
- · Conclusion: that fits comfortably within the tax-free budget: tax-free for you and your colleagues, and the VAT is deductible (well under the €227 threshold per person).
This page has been put together with care (reference year: 2026, based on information from the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration, Belastingdienst), but it is not tax advice. The exact outcome depends on your situation and on what else you already fund from the tax-free budget. If in doubt, check with your bookkeeper or accountant.