Some parents will have to choose: free lunches or higher tax bonus

Free lunches for all schoolchildren have been scrapped.

Illustrative stock photoIllustrative stock photo (Source: SME)

The parents of children in kindergartens and schools have to prepare for changes to the fees they pay for school lunches.

From the beginning of the new school year, most working parents will have to choose between a tax bonus and a free lunch for their child. Only a few will be entitled to receive both, the Index economic magazine reported.

If parents decide on free lunch, they will have to sign an affidavit, stating that they give up their claim to a tax bonus.

Free school lunches scrapped. Who will benefit? Read more 

The Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family (ÚPSVaR) recommends that parents of children aged 6-15, who are entitled for a higher tax bonus, choose this option.

“If the child receives the lunch subsidy, the claim for any tax bonus will expire completely,” it said, as quoted by Index.

Who can receive both the bonus and lunch subsidy?

A small group of working parents with children aged 6-15 years can receive both the tax bonus and the subsidy for lunch.

If a child is in material need or visits a school where more than 50 percent of pupils are in material need, or their parents’ income is lower than the living wage, the child is entitled to free lunch, while the child's parents can receive a higher tax bonus, Eva Rovenská from the Labour Ministry explained to the TASR newswire.

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