Company Christmas Party and Employee Gifts 2026: Costs, PIT, ZUS and CIT Step by Step
Legal status: 2 November 2026
Taking part in a company Christmas party (Wigilia) open to all employees is not their income, because – according to the Constitutional Tribunal judgment of 8 July 2014 (K 7/13) – the benefit cannot be attributed to a specific person, so there is no PIT (personal income tax) or ZUS (social security contributions). The cost of such a party for employees on employment contracts can be a tax-deductible cost for CIT (corporate income tax), but the tax authorities treat the share attributable to B2B contractors, civil-law contractors and guests as entertainment (representation) expenses, which are not deductible. Gifts handed out at the party – packages, vouchers or Nais eVouchers – are settled separately, according to their source of funding.
Company Christmas party and taxes – the short answer
The company Christmas party, income tax and social security contributions are issues that require cooperation between HR, management and accounting in the fourth quarter. The basic settlement rule is based on distinguishing between expenses aimed at integrating employees hired under employment contracts and expenses for people working with the company in other forms (B2B, civil-law contracts) or external guests.
From the employer's perspective, what matters most is how the event is funded and documented. The company's operating funds allow part of the employee-related expenses to be recognised as tax-deductible costs. Using the ZFŚS (Company Social Benefits Fund), on the other hand, imposes completely different obligations on the organiser and removes the possibility of treating the expense itself as a tax-deductible cost.
Table: Christmas party, gift in kind, voucher – PIT, ZUS and CIT
A Christmas party for everyone, PIT and ZUS: what the K 7/13 judgment changed
The Constitutional Tribunal judgment (case K 7/13) set out clear criteria that must be met for a benefit to be treated as employment income. The ruling fundamentally changed the approach to team events, including Christmas gatherings, relieving employers of the burdensome duty to calculate the value of the food consumed. According to the judgment, an employee receives income only when three conditions are met together.
First, the benefit must be provided with the employee's consent. Attending a company Christmas party is usually voluntary. The employee decides to attend, which means they use the benefit of their own free will. Second, the benefit must be provided in the employee's interest (not the employer's) and give them a measurable financial gain in the form of increased assets or an avoided expense. For team events, the Tribunal noted that although employees take part voluntarily, the main beneficiary of integration is the employer. It is the organisation that gains from better team communication, smoother cooperation and stronger attachment to the workplace. The event therefore takes place predominantly in the employer's interest.
Third, and most importantly from a settlement perspective, the benefit must be individually attributable to a specific employee. At general Christmas events open to the whole team – where food is served buffet-style and drinks are freely available – it is impossible to determine exactly how much a given employee ate or drank. The mere opportunity to attend and potential access to catering is not a financial gain. The government guidance on team events confirms this approach: if the benefit cannot be attributed individually, there is no income and therefore no basis for charging PIT or ZUS contributions. In this situation, the organisation does not have to add any amounts to the payroll.
There are, however, borderline cases in which income does arise, which is a tax risk that needs very careful assessment. This happens, for example, when the employer strictly controls attendance combined with a precise allocation of costs. If the organisation sends named invitations (often including partners), rents a restaurant room serving fixed individual set menus and strictly settles the cost per person ("per plate"), the tax authorities may conclude that the value of the benefit can be attributed to a specific individual. In that model, the argument about the lack of an individualised benefit disappears. If the value can be attributed, the organisation must be prepared to treat the benefit as the employee's income, which creates an obligation to withhold the tax advance and the relevant social security contributions.
The company Christmas party as a CIT cost: employee-related cost or entertainment?
Recognising the costs of organising a Christmas party as business expenses requires a precise analysis of the workforce structure and the nature of the event. Under the Corporate Income Tax Act (Journal of Laws 2026, item 554), how expenses are booked depends directly on the status of the participants.
Under the general rule in Art. 15(1), tax-deductible costs are costs incurred to generate revenue from a source of revenue or to maintain or secure that source. Expenses on team events for employees fall within this definition. Such events build engagement, reduce staff turnover and improve the effectiveness of everyday cooperation. Employee-related expenses incurred for integration (e.g. venue hire, catering, music) are therefore, as a rule, a tax-deductible cost for the employer.
On the other hand, the CIT Act contains a list of expenses excluded from tax-deductible costs. Art. 16(1)(28) excludes entertainment (representation) expenses, in particular those incurred on catering services and the purchase of food and drinks, including alcohol. The key is to define entertainment itself, and the Supreme Administrative Court (NSA) judgment II FSK 702/11 helps here. The court indicated that entertainment applies only when the main purpose of the expense is to build the company's external image and prestige towards clients and business partners. A Christmas party organised for the company's own employees does not, as a rule, have that purpose – it serves internal relations. Therefore, catering expenses for staff on employment contracts do not fall within the definition of entertainment under Art. 16(1)(28).
Things get more complicated when people who are not employees within the meaning of the Labour Code attend. Pay particular attention to the tax authority's position in the KIS individual tax ruling (0114-KDIP2-1.4010.505.2024.2.DK). In it, the authority required costs to be strictly split according to each participant's status. According to this ruling, expenses attributable to employees on employment contracts remain a tax-deductible cost. The share of costs attributable to B2B contractors, people on civil-law contracts, business partners and guests, however, is entertainment.
For accounting, this means applying an appropriate allocation key. The organisation must identify the proportion of participants from each group. The invoice for the event should be split in proportion to the number of participants in each category. The part of the invoice attributable to employees is recognised as an employee-related tax-deductible cost, while the part attributable to others is treated as entertainment and excluded from tax-deductible costs. Failing to split these amounts properly creates a risk that the costs will be challenged during a tax inspection.
Christmas party from the ZFŚS or from operating funds?
Companies with a ZFŚS can fund the Christmas gathering from it, but this has specific legal consequences. From a corporate settlement perspective, an expense financed from the fund is not a tax-deductible cost. Art. 16(1)(45) of the CIT Act states this directly. In this regime, the employer's cost is the contribution transferred to the fund's account.
Another key requirement when using the ZFŚS is strict adherence to the fund rules and the social criterion. This means that granting any benefits, including participation in events financed from the fund, must depend on the employee's life, family and financial situation. Applying this criterion to an open event where everyone has equal access to food and attractions requires precise provisions in the fund rules and documentation of the basis for granting the benefit. Funding the party from the company's operating funds, by contrast, does not require income criteria, and the expense (for the employee share) is a tax-deductible cost – although the entertainment share mentioned above must be separated.
Gifts at the Christmas party: package, voucher, eVoucher
The Christmas party is the traditional time to say thank you for the year's work. Many companies combine the team event with handing out Christmas gifts. However, attending the gathering must be clearly distinguished from receiving a gift. While taking part in an open Christmas party does not generate income, a package or gift card handed to an employee personally is a fully quantifiable benefit.
Under Art. 12(1) of the PIT Act, benefits from operating funds – whether a gift package in kind, a voucher or an eVoucher – are the employee's income and, from the first złoty, require the calculation of an income tax advance and ZUS contributions. If the company decides to finance gifts from the ZFŚS, the rules are different: gift packages in kind may benefit from the PIT exemption of up to PLN 1,000 a year, but vouchers and gift cards are excluded from this exemption. No ZUS contributions are charged on benefits from the fund at all (we discuss the detailed limits, the rules for applying the social criterion and the relevant case law in the article: Christmas vouchers and gift packages from the ZFŚS: PIT and ZUS).
Nais eVouchers as a Christmas gift – choice for employees without logistics
Organising Christmas gifts in companies with many employees creates an operational burden. This is especially true for distributed and remote teams. Ordering products, storing physical goods, packing and arranging costly courier or postal delivery take a great deal of work from HR and administration, and a poorly chosen gift misses the point.
In such situations, digital vouchers without logistics, storage or shipping work well. One example is eVouchers from the Nais ecosystem. With this tool, the recipient chooses a reward from thousands of offers in the system, while the company sets the value and expiry date, which makes budget control easier.
Generating even several hundred vouchers takes just a few minutes. The code is activated online, and codes reach employees directly or through the company (for example, managers can hand them out during an in-person Christmas party). Holiday greetings can also be sent to the team as kudos recognition on the Nais platform. Settling this benefit is transparent: under the regulations, an eVoucher is a voucher within the meaning of Art. 21(1)(67) of the PIT Act, so the income tax and ZUS rules described above apply, depending on whether the expense is financed from the ZFŚS or from the company's operating funds.
Checklist for accounting and HR + FAQ
Preparing a Christmas event requires completing formalities so that, in the event of a tax office or ZUS inspection, the employer has documentation supporting the cost structure. Before December, it is worth taking the following steps:
- Prepare a list of participants clearly divided into people on employment contracts and other collaborators (B2B contracts, civil-law contracts) and external guests.
- Calculate the percentage share of each group at the event to define the correct cost allocation key.
- Book and split the purchase invoices for the party into the employee-related cost share and the entertainment share.
- Collect documentation (e.g. agenda, event plan, invitation sent via the intranet) confirming the integration purpose of the event and its internal character.
- Clearly define and document the source of funding for the event and gifts (the company's operating funds or the ZFŚS).
- Check that the planned activities comply with the current ZFŚS rules (especially regarding the social criterion) if the fund is to finance the event or gifts.
- Set up or update a register of gifts, packages and vouchers handed out, to correctly determine when the employee's income arises and to calculate the PIT advances and ZUS contributions.
- Send data on the value of gifts to the HR and payroll team on time, before the payroll for the given month is closed.
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
1. Company Christmas party and PIT – does the employee pay tax? No. At a Christmas party open to everyone, it is impossible to attribute a specific value of drinks or food to a given person. According to the Constitutional Tribunal judgment (K 7/13), such an event does not generate income and is therefore not subject to PIT.
2. Is a company Christmas party a tax-deductible cost? Yes, but only for the share relating to people on employment contracts. Costs attributable to B2B contractors, people on civil-law contracts and external guests are treated as entertainment, which is not a tax-deductible cost according to KIS ruling 0114-KDIP2-1.4010.505.2024.2.DK.
3. Company Christmas party and ZUS – are there contributions? No. As with income tax, since attending a party open to all is not the employee's income, there is no basis for calculating social security and health insurance contributions.
4. Are alcohol and catering at the party entertainment? Art. 16(1)(28) of the CIT Act expressly lists catering and alcohol as excluded from costs. However, according to the NSA judgment (II FSK 702/11), entertainment concerns situations where the main purpose is to build the company's external image. An open Christmas party for employees on employment contracts has no such purpose, which means the expense on food (and, as a rule, also alcohol, if it serves integration) can be a cost. Caution and thorough documentation of the event's purpose are always recommended.
5. A gift handed out at the Christmas party – PIT and ZUS? It depends entirely on the source of funding. Gifts from operating funds are, as a rule, subject to PIT and ZUS contributions. Gifts from the ZFŚS are subject to separate rules, which we discuss in detail in the article on Christmas vouchers and gift packages from the ZFŚS: PIT and ZUS.
This article is for information only and does not constitute legal or tax advice. Legal status as of 2 November 2026. Before making a decision, consult a tax adviser or your accounting team.
If your Christmas gift is meant for the whole team – including remote workers – see Nais eVouchers: you can send the codes in a few minutes, and everyone chooses their own reward. You can also make Christmas funds available in the Nais cafeteria.
