Practical guide
Corporate gifts in France: VAT, deductibility and URSSAF
Client gift, trade show giveaway or end-of-year treat for your teams: three uses, three regimes. Here is what you need to know before ordering, so you can give without any accounting surprises.
This information is given for general guidance to prepare your orders under French rules; thresholds are revised regularly and your situation may have its own specifics. For any decision, consult your accountant and the official sources (urssaf.fr, entreprendre.service-public.fr).
The three regimes to tell apart
Gifts to clients & partners
- • Deductible if the business interest can be demonstrated and the value is reasonable
- • VAT recoverable only below the “low value” threshold per year and per recipient
- • Above €3,000 of gifts over the financial year: statement of general expenses required
Promotional giveaways (wide distribution)
- • Ordinary advertising expenses, deductible from taxable profit
- • Promotional nature strengthened by a visible, durable logo
- • Designed for prospecting: trade shows, events, street marketing
Gifts to employees (or via the works council / CSE)
- • Exempt from contributions if linked to a recognised URSSAF event
- • Ceiling: 5% of the monthly social security ceiling (~€200 in 2026) per event, employee and year
- • Above that or outside an event: added back into the contributions base
Client gifts: deductible, yes — under conditions
A gift given to a client or a partner is deductible from taxable profit when it is made in the direct interest of the business — maintaining a genuine commercial relationship — and when its value remains proportionate to that relationship. Keep the invoices and note the recipient: in the event of an audit, it is this consistency that is examined. When all the gifts for the financial year exceed €3,000, they must be entered on the statement of general expenses attached to the tax return — a formality, not a penalty.
On the VAT side, the principle is exclusion: you do not deduct VAT on goods handed over free of charge. The exception that matters here: low-value gifts, within a threshold per year and per recipient (around €73 inc. VAT in recent years, revised periodically). Below this threshold, VAT is recoverable; above it, it stays at your expense — to be factored into the real cost of your operation.
Promotional giveaways: advertising, not gifts
Pens, tote bags, bottles or keyrings branded with your logo and distributed widely — trade show, event, prospecting campaign — do not fall under the business gift regime: they are advertising expenses, deductible like the rest of your communication. The promotional nature is all the better established when the branding is visible and durable — one more argument for taking care over the quality of the branding (screen printing, engraving) rather than a sticker.
Gifts to employees: the URSSAF events rule
Gifts given to employees (directly or via the works council, the CSE) escape social security contributions if they are linked to a recognised event — Christmas (employee and children), birth or adoption, wedding or civil partnership (PACS), retirement, Mother's/Father's Day, Sainte-Catherine/Saint-Nicolas, back-to-school — and if their value does not exceed 5% of the monthly social security ceiling per event, per employee and per calendar year, i.e. around €200 in 2026 (amount revised every year). An end-of-year gift box, an embroidered blanket or an engraved insulated bottle fit very comfortably within this framework — and leave a lasting mark of recognition.
Frequently asked questions
Is a client gift deductible from the company's taxable profit?
Yes, on two conditions: the gift must be given in the direct interest of the business (an identifiable commercial relationship) and its value must remain reasonable in view of that relationship. If total gifts exceed €3,000 over the financial year, they must appear on the statement of general expenses (relevé des frais généraux) attached to the tax return.
Can VAT be recovered on giveaways and promotional products?
In principle, VAT on goods given away free of charge is not deductible — except for low-value gifts, within a threshold per year and per recipient (around €73 inc. VAT, revised periodically), and for promotional items that visibly carry the logo. Giveaways distributed in volume for prospecting purposes generally count as advertising expenses.
What is the URSSAF ceiling for gifts to employees?
Gifts and vouchers given to employees are exempt from social security contributions if they are linked to a recognised event (Christmas, birth, wedding, back-to-school, retirement…) and if their value does not exceed 5% of the monthly social security ceiling per event, per employee and per calendar year — around €200 in 2026 (amount revised every year, to be checked on urssaf.fr).
Are giveaways handed out at a trade show client gifts?
No: low-value promotional items distributed widely (pens, tote bags, keyrings branded with the logo) count as advertising expenses, not under the business gift regime. They are deductible as communication costs, and their promotional nature is all the better established when the logo is visible and durable.
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