Taxation
What we model.
A thank-you is income. What the law makes of it differs from one country to the next, and a platform that ignores this leaves its employees to find out alone. Here, jurisdiction by jurisdiction, is the rule our engine applies, with its reference and the sentence the employee reads in their own space.
Regimes in force in 2026.
France
What the employee reads
As long as your monthly pay excluding thank-yous stays at or below the threshold of 1.6 times the minimum wage (SMIC), your thank-yous are exempt from income tax and social security contributions until 31 December 2028. Report their total in the dedicated box on your tax return (box 1PB for the first filer): they are not taxed, but they count towards your reference tax income. Months above the threshold follow the standard regime.
- Reference
- French Finance Act 2022, art. 5, extended until 31 December 2028 by the Finance Act 2026, art. 5; threshold of 1.6 times the minimum wage (SMIC) of the month, prorated to working time
- Threshold
- €2,987.23 on monthly full-time pay, excluding thank-yous
- Until
- 31 December 2028
Spain
What the employee reads
These thank-yous are employment income (rendimiento del trabajo) subject to IRPF: report them on your income tax return, in the box (casilla) for rendimientos del trabajo. They remain outside the Social Security (Seguridad Social) contribution base, as a non-wage (extrasalarial) item (Supreme Court ruling STS of 17 June 2021).
- Reference
- Art. 17.1 Ley 35/2006 (IRPF); extra-salary, outside the social security contribution base (Supreme Court ruling of 17 June 2021)
- Threshold
- No threshold: the rule applies to any amount.
United States
What the employee reads
Report your thank-yous to your employer every month by the 10th of the following month, once they reach USD 20: they are taxable wages, and FICA still applies. If your occupation is on the US Treasury list (front desk, concierge, housekeeping, bellhops, valets and food and beverage among others), they may be deducted for federal income tax purposes, up to 25 000 USD per year until the end of 2028. Keep a record and report them on your return.
- Reference
- OBBBA (4 July 2025), federal deduction capped at USD 25,000 per year, from 2025 to 2028; FICA still due
- Threshold
- US$25,000.00 annual deduction cap, on the thank-yous themselves
- Until
- 31 December 2028
United Kingdom
What the employee reads
These thank-yous are liable to income tax: you report them yourself, through Self Assessment if you file a return, otherwise by telling HMRC, which adjusts your tax code. No National Insurance is due on thank-yous paid to you directly.
- Reference
- Direct thank-yous fall outside the scope of the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 (Code of Practice, para 13); income tax through self-assessment; no National Insurance contributions (HMRC E24)
- Threshold
- No threshold: the rule applies to any amount.
Italy
What the employee reads
By default, a 5% substitute tax (imposta sostitutiva) applies to these thank-yous, up to 30% of your income for the year, if your employment income for the previous year did not exceed EUR 75 000; you may waive it in writing with your employer. Report them on your tax return (form 730), including those received directly.
- Reference
- Imposta sostitutiva of 5% (Law 197/2022 as amended by Law 207/2024), for employment income of the previous year up to EUR 75,000, within 30% of the year's income
- Threshold
- €75,000.00 on the previous year's employment income
Greece
What the employee reads
Your thank-yous are exempt from income tax up to EUR 300 per month, whether paid to you directly or through the property. Above that amount, the excess is added to your taxable employment income. Social security contributions, however, are due on none of it, whatever the total.
- Reference
- Income tax exemption up to EUR 300 per month on thank-yous received from guests, directly or through the property (art. 5 of Law 5162/2024, art. 14 para. 2 point ib of the Greek Income Tax Code); social security contributions exempt whatever the amount (art. 11)
- Threshold
- €300.00 on the thank-yous themselves
Switzerland
What the employee reads
Your thank-yous are taxable income (Federal Direct Tax Act, art. 17): declare them yourself on your tax return, following your canton's instructions, and, if you are taxed at source, check with your cantonal tax office. They do not form part of your AVS salary as long as they are not a significant element of your pay: no social contributions are then due.
- Reference
- Taxable income, declared by the employee (Federal Direct Tax Act, art. 17 para. 1); outside AVS salary as long as it is not a significant element of pay (AVS Ordinance, art. 7 let. e; FSIO directives, service included)
- Threshold
- No threshold: the rule applies to any amount.
What we do not model
What serves a legal department most is not the list of what we know, but the list of what we do not. Here it is, unretouched.
Countries outside this list
A hotel may open in a country the engine does not model. Its employee then reads that they must declare their thank-yous and enquire with their tax authority: no legal reference is cited to them, because we have verified none.
Italy, without the 30% limit
The Italian threshold looks at the previous year's employment income: the engine applies it when payroll provides that income, and otherwise falls back on a monthly estimate, which is wrong in months with a thirteenth or fourteenth-month payment. The limit of 30% of the year's income, beyond which thank-yous follow the ordinary scale, is assessed when the year closes: we do not model it.
France, by the working time provided
The threshold of 1.6 times the minimum wage is prorated for part-time work: the engine does so when payroll provides the month's paid hours, and otherwise treats the employee as full-time.
The United States, income and occupation
The federal deduction phases out above 150,000 dollars of income. We do not model that phase-out: beyond it, the deduction belongs to the employee's tax return, not to our classification. Nor do we check that the employee's occupation is on the Treasury list: the sentence they read reminds them.
Switzerland, with no threshold for a significant element
In Switzerland, thank-yous only enter AVS salary if they are a significant element of pay, and no text quantifies that threshold. We do not make one up: the engine classifies each month as declared by the employee, with no contributions, and the employer assesses with its compensation fund the cases that depart from custom. Tax at source is not modelled either.
Announced reforms not yet passed
We apply a rule only once it is published. A Greek reform announced in July 2026 would raise the cap and make it annual: it is not in the engine, and it will not enter before official publication.
The tax calculation itself
The engine CLASSIFIES a month: a status, a threshold, a reference. It computes no amount of tax or contributions, and withholds nothing: no sum is ever taken out of a thank-you, neither by the hotel nor by us.
General information, not individualised tax advice.
A question about your jurisdiction?
Write to us: we answer with the rule we apply, or we tell you that we do not model it.
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