All you need to know about the job ticket as a mobility benefit

Summarized

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• Key take away. A job ticket is nothing more than a monthly or annual pass for public transport, which the employer pays for its employees. Your company buys the ticket directly from the transport company and makes it available to your employees.
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• Always free travel. With the job ticket, your employees can get to work by bus and train and also use public transport for their private journeys. At any time.
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• Tax free. Travel to work by public transport is tax-free, as is the case with the job ticket. Requirement: You offer the job ticket to your employees in addition to the agreed salary.
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• Benefits in kind. The provision of a job ticket falls under the benefit in kind.
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• Transition. A job ticket helps your employees switch from cars to buses and trains. It is even better in connection with a mobility budget.

What is meant by the job ticket?

In a nutshell: The job ticket is a monthly ticket or annual ticket for public transport from the regional transport company or the transport association at your company's location.

As an employer, you purchase the job ticket and give it to your employees at a reduced price or free of charge.

With the job ticket, your employees can use public transport such as buses and trains to get to work. Since the job ticket is a monthly ticket or annual ticket and is therefore not limited to a specific route or time, it can also be used by your employees for private trips.

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The job ticket is therefore traditionally one of the most popular benefits for company employees.

Because it saves employees monthly costs for mobility, since the ticket is usually provided to them in addition to their salary. In addition, it enables them to be mobile in the city without stress and in an environmentally friendly manner. It is the classic among the company car alternatives.

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The job ticket is particularly worthwhile financially for larger companies, because they can receive attractive discounts by purchasing larger ticket contingents from the transport companies.

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Legal information about the job ticket

If you provide your employees with a job ticket for their mobility, you as an employer make a benefit in kind. Whether and how much this has to be taxed depends on how you give your employees the job ticket. Either the assignment as part of the wages or in addition to the agreed salary comes into question.

As part of the salary, this must be taxed and social security contributions are also due. However, a monthly tax exemption limit of exactly (!) 50 euros applies to benefits in kind, taxes and social security contributions only apply above this.

The same applies to salary conversion, i.e. the expenses for the job ticket are converted into gross salary and are therefore part of the monthly remuneration.

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The job ticket is completely tax-free if you leave it to your employees in addition to the agreed salary.

This tax exemption also applies to reimbursements that you as an employer give your employees for travel expenses incurred for public transport.

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Since January 2019, the employer subsidy for the use of public transport has been exempt from tax (Section 3 (15) of the Income Tax Act (EStG)). In principle, the tax exemption only applies to journeys between your home and the workplace, i.e. your commute to work. And only if the subsidy is paid in addition to the salary.

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Since the job ticket is primarily aimed at enabling companies and their employees to get to work by public transport, it also falls under the tax exemption rule, although it can be used for both professional and private trips.

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You can read more about taxes and benefits in kind in this article.

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Job ticket or would you prefer a mobility budget?

For you as a company, a combination of job ticket and mobility budget can make sense.

This means that you give your employees a job ticket and also give them a credit that they can use for other mobility. In this way, your employees remain flexible and, for example, they can better tailor their way to work individually to the traffic situation, the weather or their personal requirements.

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A current application: In view of the 9-euro ticket and the discussion about a successor ticket - the date for the introduction of the legally agreed 49-euro ticket is still pending - many transport companies decide to offer a cheap monthly ticket. If the price for a monthly ticket is in the range of 20-50 euros, it makes sense for you as a company to issue a mobility budget to your employees in addition to a job ticket. Because taxes only apply to the amount that is above the tax exemption limit of 50 euros. You determine how much credit your employees receive.

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With this you offer your team a tailor-made mobility offer for bus and train, bicycle and car and let them decide how they get to work. Your employees are prepared for all eventualities and arrive stress-free and on time.
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