Free meals or concessional meals benefit provided by the employer gets taxable in the hands of the employees as perquisites. Perquisites are the non monetary benefits provided by the employer to his employees in addition to their salary. Some of the perquisites are taxable in the hands of employees and some are fully exempt in their hands.

Taxable value of free meals, food & non-alcoholic beverages provided by the employer to its employee is valued as mentioned below:

But, exemption of Rs. 50 per meal is allowed only if the meal is provided at office premises/office hours or through non-transferable paid vouchers.

Relevant Points:

The value of perk is not applied or the same is not taxable:

• If tea or snacks is provided by the employer during working hours.
• If the free meals or non- alcoholic beverages is provided in a remote area or at off-shore installation.