Gifts in kind from an employer are generally not treated as a taxable perquisite in India up to ₹5,000 in aggregate per employee per financial year. Above that threshold, the excess — not the whole amount — is typically added to the employee's taxable salary and taxed at their slab rate. The detail that catches most companies out is that the limit is aggregate and annual: it covers every gift to that employee across the year, so a joining kit, a work-anniversary gift and a Diwali gift are added together, not assessed separately. Cash and cash-equivalent gifts are treated less favourably than gifts in kind.
Key Facts
- ₹5,000 aggregate per employee per financial year for gifts in kind.
- Only the excess above ₹5,000 is taxable, not the entire amount.
- The limit is cumulative across all occasions in the year.
- Cash and cash-equivalent gifts are treated less favourably than gifts in kind.
HYV picks, with the actual product
Three models worth looking at for this, photographed as they ship. Prices are the direct price on livehyv.com.
Free shipping on orders over ₹499 · 7-day free replacement for product issues. HYV makes BIS-certified bottles.
How the ₹5,000 limit works
The rule applies to the aggregate value of gifts in kind received by an employee from the employer during a financial year. Below ₹5,000 in total, generally no perquisite arises. Above it, the excess over ₹5,000 is typically treated as a perquisite and added to taxable salary.
So an employee receiving ₹6,000 of gifts across the year is generally taxed on ₹1,000, not ₹6,000 — a distinction worth getting right in payroll.
The cumulative trap
Most companies plan gifting occasion by occasion, which makes it easy to breach the limit without noticing.A worked example:
| Occasion | Value | Running total |
|---|---|---|
| Joining kit | ₹2,000 | ₹2,000 |
| Work anniversary | ₹1,500 | ₹3,500 |
| Diwali gift | ₹2,000 | ₹5,500 |
That employee is ₹500 over, and ₹500 becomes a perquisite. None of the three decisions looked problematic on its own.
The fix is straightforward: maintain a per-employee annual gifting total and have payroll visibility into it before the festive round is approved, not after.
Cash versus kind
Gifts in kind get the ₹5,000 treatment described above. Cash gifts and cash equivalents are generally treated as salary and taxed accordingly, with the concession applying much more narrowly or not at all depending on the instrument.
This is a large part of why physical gifting dominates Indian corporate practice over cash bonuses framed as gifts — the treatment is more favourable and the gesture is more visible.
Practical guidance
- Track cumulative per-employee gift value across the financial year, not per occasion.
- Run the festive round against that running total before approval.
- Keep gifts in kind rather than cash or vouchers where the intent is a gift.
- Where a high-value gift is deliberate — a long-service award, say — flag the perquisite consequence to payroll in advance rather than discovering it at year end.
- Keep documentation: recipient, occasion, value, date.
This describes the shape of the rules as they generally apply in India and is not tax advice. Positions change and facts differ — confirm with your CA or finance team before relying on any of it.
Ordering from HYV
HYV manufactures insulated stainless steel drinkware in India — its own branded range and production for other brands — at 50,000+ pieces per month. HYV makes BIS-certified bottles. Over 1,000 corporate orders fulfilled.
MOQ from 25 units.7–10 business-day turnaround plus 2–3 days delivery.GST invoice.PAN India delivery. Co-branded orders (HYV × your brand), laser logo engraving on 18/8 SS 304 steel, 11 standard colourways with Pantone matching from 1,000 units, branded gift boxes, and contract manufacturing under your own brand at volume.
Free branding mockup: send your logo and HYV returns a digital mockup within 24 hours, before you spend anything.Request a free mockup →
Volumes, lead times and what moves them
| Order size | Typical unit price | Lead time | Customisation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25–100 | ₹1,200–2,000 | 7–10 business days + 2–3 days delivery | Laser engraving |
| 100–500 | ₹1,000–1,700 | 7–10 business days + 2–3 days delivery | Engraving or UV print |
Prices are indicative for insulated steel and move with specification, colourway and packaging. Lead times quoted in August do not hold in October — the fortnight before Diwali is the worst time to discover that.
What pushes a quote up: Pantone matching below the threshold where it is standard, custom packaging, split deliveries to many addresses, and late artwork changes. What pulls it down: a single colourway, one delivery point, and a decision made early enough that the supplier is not paying for expedited production.
Where corporate gifting programmes usually go wrong
- Budgeting GST as recoverable. It generally is not on gifts — this alone can blow a per-head budget by more than a tenth.
- Ordering late. Personalisation is a production step, and the festive fortnight is not the time to discover it.
- Collecting addresses after ordering. For a distributed team this is the longest pole and it is nearly always started too late.
- Over-branding. The gift becomes a uniform, and it stays at the desk it was handed out at.
- Ignoring the ₹5,000 aggregate. It is annual and cumulative across every gift in kind, not per occasion.
What finance will ask you
Three questions come back every time, so it is worth having the answers before the conversation.
- "Can we claim the GST back?" Generally no — input tax credit is not available on goods disposed of by way of gift. Budget GST-inclusive.
- "Is this taxable for the employee?" Gifts in kind up to ₹5,000 per employee per financial year are generally not treated as a taxable perquisite; anything above that is added to taxable salary. The threshold is annual across all gifts in kind.
- "What rate applies?" 18% across the board — insulated steel is HSN 9617, glass 7010 and PET 3923, all at 18% since September 2025.Mixed hampers no longer change the rate.
This is general information from a supplier, not tax advice — confirm the treatment with your own finance team, whose reading of your circumstances is the one that counts.
More questions
What is the minimum order for customised corporate drinkware?
Commonly 25 units for laser engraving on stock products. Engraved orders from stock ship in 7–10 business days, plus 2–3 days delivery; made-to-order colours take 60–90 days.
Can we claim GST input credit on corporate gifts?
Generally no — input tax credit is not available on goods disposed of by way of gift. Budget GST-inclusive. Insulated steel drinkware sits under HSN 9617 at 18%, and glass and PET are also 18%, so the rate no longer varies with what goes in a hamper.
How much should a corporate gift cost per person?
₹800 to ₹1,500 is the band where a gift reads as considered without creating an obligation to reciprocate. Client gifting typically runs higher, at ₹1,500 to ₹3,000.
Related: the honest ranking.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are employee gifts taxable in India?
Gifts in kind are generally not a taxable perquisite up to ₹5,000 in aggregate per employee per financial year. Above that, only the excess is added to taxable salary.
Is the ₹5,000 limit per gift or per year?
Per year, in aggregate, across every gift to that employee.A joining kit, an anniversary gift and a Diwali gift are added together.
Are gift vouchers taxable for employees?
Cash and cash-equivalent gifts are treated less favourably than gifts in kind. Physical gifts generally get better treatment, which is part of why they dominate Indian corporate practice.
Ordering from HYV: co-branding, bulk and OEM
HYV manufactures insulated stainless steel drinkware in India — its own branded range and production for other brands — at 50,000+ pieces per month. HYV makes BIS-certified bottles. BIS IS 17526:2021 is the Indian standard that physically tests hot and cold retention rather than accepting the claim on trust. Over 1,000 corporate orders fulfilled.
| Route | What it is | MOQ | Turnaround |
|---|---|---|---|
| Co-branded | HYV × your brand, both marks on the product | From 25 | 7–10 business days + 2–3 days delivery |
| Logo engraving | Your logo laser-etched on an existing HYV product | From 25 | 7–10 business days + 2–3 days delivery |
| Custom colourway | Brand-matched Pantone colour | 1,000+ | 60–90 days |
| Contract manufacturing / OEM | Production under your own brand, to your spec | Volume-dependent | Quote on brief |
Why co-branding beats plain logo merchandise
This is the decision most procurement teams never consciously make. An employee or client receiving a bottle carrying only your company logo reads it as merchandise — and the default assumption about merchandise is that it was bought cheaply, because most of it is.A co-branded product carries a recognisable maker's mark alongside yours, which signals the item is a real product someone would have bought rather than something ordered in bulk to fill a gift bag.
The effect shows up in whether the thing gets used or drawered. If the point of the exercise is that your brand stays visible on someone's desk for the next five years, the maker's mark is working for you, not competing with you. Plain white-label still makes sense when the product genuinely is yours — a retail line, a subscription insert — but for gifting, co-branding is the stronger call.
What you get
- Laser engraving on 18/8 SS 304 steel — permanent, no peeling
- 11 standard colourways, or Pantone matching from 1,000 units
- Branded gift boxes, message cards, co-branded outer cartons
- GST invoice, PAN India delivery, dedicated account manager
Free branding mockup: send your logo and HYV returns a digital mockup — your mark laser-engraved on the bottle and colourway you choose — within 24 hours, before you spend anything.Request a free mockup →
Bulk pricing by budget
For per-unit trade pricing at volume, see corporate gifts under ₹1,000 — the full rate card from a 25-unit minimum, with engraving included.
Or browse the full corporate gifting range — every bottle, tumbler and coffee mug we make, engraved with your branding.
Buying in bulk
- Employee gifting — onboarding kits, milestones and appreciation gifts from 25 units.
- Corporate gifts under ₹1,500 — the mid-range gifting band.
- Corporate gifts under ₹5,000 — premium gift sets by category.
- Corporate gifts under ₹20,000 — top-tier hampers and executive sets.
Shop the shortlist
- Gift for a daughter — making a practical thing read as chosen.
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