Sports and culture benefit is now
540 euros.

The increase to the maximum value took effect retroactively and the change has been made in our backend system, so in 2026 you can offer your employees a tax-exempt sports and culture benefit totaling 540 euros per employee per year.

If you wish, you can therefore allocate more benefits to your employees, up to 540 euros, for this year still.

Log in to the Epassi admin panel and allocate more benefits

Yes, the new 540-euro ceiling applies to all employers, and the benefit can be given to anyone you pay a salary to. That means an entrepreneur running a limited company can also give themselves tax-free employee benefits, while a sole trader can only give the benefits to their employees.

The sports and culture benefit has to be offered to all employees on the same terms.

The changes take effect retroactively, so if you wish, you can allocate more benefits to your employees already for this year, up to 540 euros. The benefit remains fully tax-deductible for the company, and no employer’s social security contributions are paid on it. The recipient, for their part, still does not pay income tax on the benefit, as it is tax-exempt for them up to 540 euros per year.

Log in to the Epassi admin panel and allocate more benefits

Yes, you can. The value of the sports and culture benefit can be updated to the tax-exempt maximum at any time during 2026. So if you wish, you can allocate more benefits to your employees for this year still, up to 540 euros.

Please remember that the sports and culture benefit must be offered to all employees on the same terms.

Log in to the Epassi admin panel and allocate more benefits

The sports and culture benefit can be used for sports and culture services approved by the tax authority. With the reform, the benefit can also be used for nature activities (including hunting and fishing), equipment rental, bike and city bike rental, and drawing up a gym program.

The fishing management fee and hunting license for 2027 can be purchased with Epassi in approximately November 2026.

Other new service providers will be added to the Epassi network gradually, starting in late 2026. You can suggest new venues here.

The familiar existing uses, such as gym and other sports hobby fees, individual sports course fees, festival, movie, concert and theater tickets, and for example the Museokortti card, will remain valid uses of the sports and culture benefit.

The sports and culture benefit cannot be used to buy hobby equipment, such as art supplies or running shoes.

The sports and culture benefit is personal, and it cannot be used to pay for, for example, the hobby fees of a family member or other close person.

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No. Epassi’s service fees remain the same as before. 

Learn more about pricing

If the sports and culture benefit is part of the Flex balance at your company, employees can flexibly choose which benefits they spend their balance on.

If an employee still has Flex balance left, the limit goes up automatically and they can again use sports and culture benefits up to 540 euros. So the employer doesn't need to make any changes.

Example 1: A company has given its employees 600 euros of Flex balance in 2026, and an employee has used the maximum 400 euros of it on sports and culture benefits. When the limit rises to 540 euros, the employee can spend 140 euros of the remaining 200 on sports and cultural services, leaving 60 euros for other Flex benefits.

Example 2: A company has given its employees 400 euros of Flex balance in 2026, and an employee has used the maximum 400 euros of it on sports and culture benefits. Even though the limit rises to 540 euros, the employee has no balance left to spend unless the employer decides to increase it and load more Flex balance.