Meal vouchers 2026: complete list of eligible products

Quick answer. Law no. 2025-56 of 21 January 2025 extended until 31 December 2026 the derogation allowing meal vouchers (titres-restaurant) to be used for any food product, even when not immediately consumable (rice, pasta, raw meat, vegetables, etc.). The daily use cap remains at EUR 25 and the URSSAF exemption ceiling rises to EUR 7.32 per voucher as of 1 January 2026.

The original rule, codified at article R3262-7 of the French labour code, restricted the use of the meal voucher to food preparations directly ready for consumption. Law no. 2022-1158 of 16 August 2022, known as the "purchasing power law" carried by Bruno Le Maire, temporarily extended the scope to any food product until 31 December 2023, then extended it again until 31 December 2024.

Law no. 2025-56 of 21 January 2025, unanimously adopted by the Senate on 16 January 2025 after a National Assembly vote on 21 November 2024, extended this derogation until 31 December 2026. As of 17 May 2026, the measure is therefore still in force. A structural reform is under discussion but no definitive text has been published at this date.

Recently, a director of an industrial SME asked us to secure his meal-voucher policy after the URSSAF cap was raised to EUR 7.32. The main red flag was not the face value but the gap between the internal HR note (which still referred to the 2022 perimeter) and what employees were experiencing at the till. In 2026, this mismatch between the legal rule and internal communication remains the most frequent error.

As long as the derogation applies (until 31/12/2026), an employee can use their meal voucher to pay for any food product sold by an affiliated retailer, whether or not it is directly consumable.

The following products are notably eligible:

• prepared meals (sandwiches, salads, quiches, fresh or frozen ready meals);
• fresh, frozen or canned fruit and vegetables;
• dairy products (yoghurts, cheese, milk);
• raw, vacuum-packed or frozen meat, fish and poultry;
• unprepared starches (rice, pasta, flour, dried pulses);
• bread, cereals, canned goods, eggs;
• non-alcoholic beverages (water, juices, coffee, tea).

The following remain excluded, regardless of the retailer:

• alcoholic beverages (wine, beer, spirits), including those sold in the cellar aisle;
• confectionery, sweet biscuits and chocolate considered as non-basic food;
• non-food products (household, hygiene, pet care, kibble, press);
• tobacco.

Citable atom. As of 17 May 2026, the "any food product" derogation remains in force until 31 December 2026 (law no. 2025-56). From 1 January 2027, unless a new text is passed, use will fall back to the sole "directly consumable preparations" perimeter of article R3262-7 of the French labour code.

The retailer must be affiliated with the scheme. The authorised retailers are:

• restaurants (traditional, quick-service, collective catering) and brasseries;
• bakeries, charcuteries, caterers, tea rooms;
• food retail outlets (grocery stores, mini-markets, supermarkets, hypermarkets);
• declared food markets;
• fruit and vegetable retailers.

A service station with a food aisle is eligible for the food section only, never for fuel.

For a case-by-case payroll calibration, our social and payroll support can secure the configuration with your editor (Silae, PayFit, Lucca, Swile, Pluxee, Edenred, Bimpli, Up).

Entitlement assumes a subordination relationship and a working day that includes a meal break. The beneficiaries are:

1. All employees on permanent (CDI), fixed-term (CDD), work-study or apprenticeship contracts (subject to a meal break during the working day);
2. Trainees, provided they are present at lunch break;
3. Remote workers, with no distinction from on-site employees (case law + URSSAF), as long as they do not have access to a canteen or a company restaurant;
4. Assimilated-employee directors (SAS/SASU president, minority SARL manager) only if they combine a real employment contract with a subordination relationship, distinct from the corporate mandate;
5. Corporate officers paid for their mandate are also eligible provided that all employees of the company benefit (URSSAF, 2024 doctrine).

TNS director (majority SARL manager, sole proprietor, EURL taxed at income tax). Not eligible for the meal voucher as such. The deduction of meal expenses then runs through meal expenses and 2026 tax treatment (BOI-BNC-BASE-40-60-60 for BNC), with a minimum threshold and an annual flat-rate exemption cap.

SASU president without an employment contract. The corporate mandate alone does not entitle the director to meal vouchers, unless the scheme is formally extended to the officer under the same conditions as employees. See our analysis on SASU social charges to frame the global package.

Full-time remote worker. Same entitlement as an on-site employee. Remote work is not a ground for exclusion. If the company distributes vouchers to on-site staff but not to remote workers, the risk of URSSAF reassessment and labour-court litigation is real.

Apprentices and trainees. Eligible under the same conditions as employees. The employer cost must be anticipated in the HR envelope.

Part-time employees. One voucher per day actually worked with a meal break. No double voucher on a split day.

Employees on assignment. The meal voucher can be combined with a meal expense claim only if the assignment objectively prevents a normal return to the workplace and if the collective agreement or expense policy does not prohibit it. Otherwise, it is one or the other.

At Hayot Expertise, we see two recurring pitfalls among employers in 2026.

The first is documentary: the HR note has not been updated since 2022. Employees keep believing the expanded list will expire "soon", while it actually runs until 31/12/2026. Conversely, some teams still apply the restrictive pre-2022 list. A 10-line note dated today, citing the law of 21 January 2025, resolves 80% of questions.

The second is payroll-related: the move of the URSSAF exemption cap to EUR 7.32 as of 1 January 2026 has made obsolete the schedules that still targeted the previous cap. An employer maintaining an employer contribution of EUR 6.50 with a face value of EUR 11 mechanically leaves around EUR 0.80 of social and tax exemption on the table every day per employee — which, over 220 days a year and 30 employees, represents more than EUR 5,000 of uncaptured exemption. Recalibrating the face value to EUR 12.20 (employer contribution 60% = EUR 7.32) or EUR 14.64 (50% = EUR 7.32) maximises the social advantage at no net additional cost.

On fraud, the CNTR reminds that the voucher is strictly personal: it cannot be transferred, used by a third party, or used for anything other than a meal. Enforcement runs mainly through the issuers (Edenred, Pluxee, Swile, Bimpli, Up) via the daily card limit and the blocked MCCs (Merchant Category Codes).

Hayot Expertise insight. Date your internal meal-voucher note the day you circulate it and explicitly reference the law of 21 January 2025. Set the face value between EUR 12.20 and EUR 14.64 depending on your target employer contribution (60% or 50%) to capture the full 2026 URSSAF exemption cap (EUR 7.32). These two moves cost one hour of configuration and secure both compliance and social optimisation.

Take a company with 30 employees, 220 working days per year and a current face value of EUR 9 with a 50% employer share (EUR 4.50). The annual employer cost is 30 x 220 x EUR 4.50 = EUR 29,700, fully exempt because below EUR 7.32. Moving to a face value of EUR 14.64 with the same 50% employer share (EUR 7.32) raises the annual employer cost to 30 x 220 x EUR 7.32 = EUR 48,312, but the entire amount remains exempt from social contributions and income tax for the employee. The net additional cost for the employer is therefore around EUR 18,600 per year, but it delivers EUR 18,600 of net purchasing power to employees — versus a gross salary increase of the same amount, which would carry around 22% of additional employer contributions and 10-20% of additional income tax for the employee. The meal voucher is, in 2026, one of the most efficient compensation levers per euro spent.

The employee finances the complementary 40 to 50% of the face value via payroll deduction. This share is taken from net salary and does not entitle to any specific exemption: it is simply a purchasing arbitrage between an immediate net pay and a meal voucher used during the month. The new hire should always be informed that opting in to the meal-voucher scheme will reduce their visible net pay by the corresponding employee contribution, but that the EUR amount taken will be returned in full as meal voucher credit, plus the employer's matching share.

• Confusing the legal list with the retailer's list. The retailer may configure a narrower list at the till via the MCCs: a legally eligible product can be refused locally, with no recourse.
• Forgetting the EUR 25 cap. Exceeding it locks the card for the day. The unused balance is never lost, but it is spread over the following days.
• Distributing vouchers for days not worked (leave, RTT, sick leave): certain URSSAF reassessment, because the voucher is conditional on a working day with a meal break.
• Underfunding the employer share (<50%). The exemption is lost entirely.
• Overfunding the employer share (>60%). The excess fraction is reintegrated as gross salary, with social contributions.
• Forgetting remote workers. Characterised discrimination.
• Issuing vouchers to a TNS director. Ineligible by construction.
• Failing to explicitly mention the Sunday / public-holiday derogation for retail, healthcare or CHR sector employees: the voucher is unusable by default.

• Law no. 2025-56 of 21 January 2025 extends until 31 December 2026 the use of meal vouchers for any food product, including those not immediately consumable.
• The daily use cap remains at EUR 25, the URSSAF exemption cap rises to EUR 7.32 per voucher as of 1 January 2026.
• The optimal face value sits between EUR 12.20 (60% employer share) and EUR 14.64 (50% employer share) to capture the full exemption.
• Remote workers are eligible on the same basis as on-site employees; TNS directors are not.
• Alcohol, sweet confectionery, non-food products and tobacco remain excluded, regardless of the retailer.
• Date and update the internal HR note at least once a year to align the legal rule, the payroll configuration and the employee perception.

Official sources#

• LAW no. 2025-56 of 21 January 2025 extending the meal-voucher derogation (Légifrance)
• French labour code, articles R3262-4 to R3262-11 (Légifrance)
• URSSAF - Meal vouchers (professional expenses)
• CNTR - Extension until 31 December 2026
• Service-Public - How to obtain and use meal vouchers?
• Economie.gouv.fr - Meal vouchers: 5 things to know