The tax-free annual limit for the sports and culture benefit has increased to €540 – how do I add more balance for employees in the Employer portal?
First update the annual load limit for the sports and culture benefit in the Benefit groups section. Then you can add more balance in the Load benefit section.
What does the change mean?
Employers can provide employees with up to €540 per calendar year in tax-free sports and culture benefit. As the change took effect partway through the year, you can add more benefit balance for employees during 2026, as long as the annual tax-free limit is not exceeded.
How to add more sports and culture benefit balance for employees
- Log in to the Employer portal and go to Benefit groups.
- Select the benefit group you want to edit, click the three dots, and select Edit.
- Update the annual load limit for the sports and culture (=Virike, benefit name in Finnish) benefit to the amount you want. The limit can be up to €540 per year.
- Save your changes. If necessary, update each benefit group separately.
- Go to Load benefit, select Virike, and add balance for employees in line with the updated loading limit.
If you want to load different amounts of Virike benefit for different employees, see the article: How do I load different amounts of Virike, massage, wellbeing, or transport benefits for employees?
If you use MyChoice balance transfers
With MyChoice, employees can transfer existing balance between their active benefits within the tax-free limits. The transfer does not require the employer to load additional balance, nor does it increase the employee’s total balance—the employee transfers available balance from one benefit to another.
Employees can transfer balance to the Virike benefit up to the annual limit of €540. MyChoice is available if the employer has enabled the feature.