Let’s face it, as an entrepreneur, you are busy enough running your company. The last worry you want to deal with is keeping up with your household chores. But is this household help with service vouchers a deductible expense for your sole proprietors? Find out here!
What are service vouchers and how do they work? 💳
Service vouchers are a means of payment that allows you to do household help, ironing help, help with shopping or transport for people with reduced mobility at an advantageous rate. It is an initiative of the Belgian government to support people to outsource household tasks.
The draft is actually very simple. You buy service cheques from Pluxee. You then pay your household help with these cheques instead of cash. One cheque covers one hour of household services. 🕰️
Domestic help service cheques as a professional expense? 🔎
A household help you hire through services cheques may only perform the activities in private.
So for example, suppose you have a separate chocolate workshop, the cleaning lady is not allowed to clean there. You also cannot contribute these service vouchers to your sole proprietors’ expenses.
Tip
Want to know more about the tax benefits of service vouchers on your personal income tax? Click here!
who is eligible for service vouchers?
To make use of the system, you need to meet a few basic conditions. Let’s go over the main points:
- You are of age 🧑
- You are a natural person (not a company or not-for-profit organisation) 👤
- You live in the Flemish Region 🏡
Note, do you live in Brussels or Wallonia? Then other rules apply for services cheques from those regions.
Which tasks can you outsource with service cheques?
The list of allowed activities is quite extensive. Here are some of the most popular tasks you can have done with services cheques:
| Domestic help at home | Cleaning your home and cleaning windows 🧽 Washing and ironing 👕👖 Small sewing jobs 🧵 Preparing meals 🍲 |
| Shopping | For small, everyday errands such as shopping at the bakery, pharmacy or post office. 🛒 |
| Ironing outside your home | You can also have your ironing done at a licensed ironing centre. Handy if you’re short on space or prefer to outsource ironing. 👕 |
| Transport of persons with reduced mobility | Are you or your minor child limited in mobility? Then service cheques can be used for updated transport. 🚗 |
When using service vouchers, there are some strict rules you need to be aware of:
Service vouchers are only for private tasks, such as your own home. So you cannot use them for professional activities such as cleaning your office. ❌
Your household help cannot be a family member or relative up to the second degree. So no service vouchers for your sister, daughter or grandchild. 👨👩👧👦
Fictitious services are prohibited. You may only pay for services actually rendered, not for hours that your household help was absent. ⛔
Inappropriate behaviour towards your household help is not done. Always be polite and respectful. 😇
Pay good attention to these rules, as violations can result in fines or a ban from using service vouchers.
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