Key facts at a glance
Effective date
6 Jan 2026
Under RR No. 29-2025
Categories raised
8
Rice, uniform, medical, laundry, and more
Rice subsidy ceiling
₱2,500/mo
Up from ₱2,000/mo
Effective 6 January 2026, Revenue Regulations No. 29-2025 raised the tax-exempt ceiling on eight separate de minimis benefit categories, the biggest update to these figures in years. Rice subsidy rose from ₱2,000 to ₱2,500/month, and seven other categories, from uniform allowance to employee achievement awards, all moved up too.
These aren't bonuses in the tax sense, they're a specific, BIR-defined list of small perks that stay completely outside your taxable compensation, provided each one stays within its own ceiling. Understanding the full list matters if you're comparing job offers or checking whether your own payslip is applying the new 2026 limits correctly.
See your regular take-home pay, before any de minimis benefits.
Open the Philippines calculatorHow de minimis benefits actually work
Any amount an employer pays within a benefit's ceiling is exempt from both income tax and fringe benefit tax entirely, it never enters the taxable compensation calculation that runs through the BIR TRAIN Law brackets. Exceed the ceiling for a specific benefit, and only the excess amount becomes taxable, the portion within the limit stays exempt regardless.
Each of the eight categories has its own independent ceiling, they can't be pooled or substituted for each other, unused headroom in one category doesn't carry over to cover an excess in another. This is a structurally different mechanism from 13th month pay's combined ₱90,000 exemption, which pools 13th month pay together with other bonuses against a single shared threshold.
The full 2026 de minimis benefit ceiling table
All eight ceilings below were raised under RR No. 29-2025, effective 6 January 2026.
| Benefit | Old ceiling | 2026 ceiling |
|---|---|---|
| Rice subsidy | ₱2,000/month | ₱2,500/month |
| Uniform and clothing allowance | ₱7,000/year | ₱8,000/year |
| Medical cash allowance to dependents | ₱1,500/semester | ₱2,000/semester |
| Actual medical assistance | ₱10,000/year | ₱12,000/year |
| Laundry allowance | ₱300/month | ₱400/month |
| Christmas & major anniversary gifts | ₱5,000/year | ₱6,000/year |
| Employee achievement awards | ₱10,000/year | ₱12,000/year |
| Monetized unused vacation leave | 10 days/year | 12 days/year |
Source: BIR Revenue Regulations No. 29-2025, effective 6 January 2026.
Not every employer offers every category
These are ceilings on what CAN be paid tax-free, not entitlements every employee automatically receives. It's entirely at the employer's discretion whether to offer a rice subsidy, uniform allowance, or any other de minimis category at all. When comparing job offers, check whether de minimis benefits are part of the total package, they represent real additional value on top of base salary that a purely salary-only offer of the same headline figure wouldn't include.
These benefits also sit entirely separate from mandatory SSS, PhilHealth, and Pag-IBIG contributions, which are calculated on regular compensation only, see our mandatory contributions explainer for how those work.
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Frequently asked questions
What exactly is a de minimis benefit, and why does it matter?
It's a specific, BIR-defined list of small employee benefits (rice subsidy, uniform allowance, medical assistance, and others) that are exempt from both income tax and fringe benefit tax, provided they stay within the prescribed ceiling for each type. Any amount within the ceiling never touches your taxable compensation at all, unlike a regular allowance or bonus, which normally gets added to gross pay and taxed under the BIR TRAIN Law brackets.
What changed on 6 January 2026?
Revenue Regulations No. 29-2025 raised the tax-exempt ceiling for eight separate de minimis benefit categories, the first update to several of these figures in years. Rice subsidy rose from ₱2,000 to ₱2,500/month, uniform and clothing allowance from ₱7,000 to ₱8,000/year, medical cash allowance to dependents from ₱1,500 to ₱2,000/semester, actual medical assistance from ₱10,000 to ₱12,000/year, laundry allowance from ₱300 to ₱400/month, Christmas and major anniversary gifts from ₱5,000 to ₱6,000/year, employee achievement awards from ₱10,000 to ₱12,000/year, and monetized unused vacation leave from 10 to 12 days a year.
What happens if my employer gives me more than the ceiling for a specific benefit?
Only the amount within the ceiling stays tax-exempt, the excess becomes part of your taxable compensation income and gets run through the ordinary BIR TRAIN Law brackets just like regular salary. A ₱3,000/month rice subsidy, for example, keeps ₱2,500 tax-free and adds the remaining ₱500/month to your taxable income.
Can I combine ceilings across different benefit types to cover a larger amount of one benefit?
No. Each ceiling applies strictly to its own benefit category, they can't be pooled, offset, or substituted for each other. Unused headroom in your uniform allowance ceiling, for instance, can't be applied to cover an excess laundry allowance amount, each of the eight categories in the table above is assessed independently against its own limit.
Is de minimis the same thing as the 13th month pay exemption?
No, they're separate exemptions with separate ceilings, covered by different rules entirely. 13th month pay (and other bonuses) is tax-exempt up to a combined ₱90,000 threshold under a different provision, our 13th month pay explainer covers that mechanic in full. De minimis benefits sit on top of that ₱90,000 threshold, not counted against it, since they're a structurally different category (small, specific, non-cash-equivalent perks) rather than a bonus payment.
Do de minimis benefits reduce my SSS, PhilHealth, or Pag-IBIG contributions the way a lower salary would?
No, these mandatory contributions are calculated on your regular monthly compensation, not on de minimis benefits, which sit outside that base entirely. Our SSS, PhilHealth, and Pag-IBIG explainer covers how those contribution caps and floors actually work on your regular salary.
Are these benefits something I can request, or does my employer decide whether to offer them?
It's entirely up to the employer whether to offer any given de minimis benefit at all, the BIR ceilings only set the maximum amount that can be paid tax-free if the employer chooses to provide it. Not every Philippines employer offers all eight categories, and some structure compensation entirely as salary with no de minimis component. If you're comparing job offers, check whether de minimis benefits are included as part of the total package, since they represent genuine additional value beyond the base salary figure.