With the Bonus Module, you can manage one-time or plannable additional payments for employees in a structured, transparent, and compliant way through pxtra. The entire process, from planning through communication to export for payroll processing, takes place centrally on the platform. The Bonus Module can be used independently or combined with all other pxtra packages. It's suitable for companies of any size and for benefits that should be paid out on a one-time basis.
📁 Requirements for Use
To use the Bonus Module, the following requirements must be met:
- The Bonus Module is activated for your company
- The relevant employees are set up in pxtra
- An export or integration solution for payroll processing is configured (e.g., CSV, DATEV, Agenda, etc.)
🎁 What Types of Bonuses Are Available?
The Bonus Module currently offers the following bonus types:
Non-cash benefit up to €50.00 (§ 8 Abs. 2 S. 11 EStG)
- Tax-free and exempt from social security contributions
- Max. €50.00 per month / per employee
- In addition to salary
- Non-cash benefit (no cash payout)
- Implementation as voucher or external non-cash benefit
Important note on usage:
The non-cash benefit cannot be used in the Bonus Module if it is already provided to employees monthly through the regular budget. In the current version (v1), the non-cash benefit is available company-wide either as a monthly voucher or for one-time payments – not in parallel.
All other tax treatments in the Bonus Module (e.g., "special occasion" or fully taxed one-time payments) are not affected and can be used without restrictions.
Special occasion up to €60.00 (R 19.6 LStR)
- Tax-free and exempt from social security contributions
- Max. €60.00 per occasion / per employee
- Non-cash benefit (no cash payout)
- Requires a specific, substantiated occasion (e.g., birthday, wedding, birth of a child, anniversary, promotion, passed exam)
- Implementation as voucher or external non-cash benefit
Non-cash gift according to § 37b EStG
- Flat-rate taxation of 30% and subject to social security contributions
- Max. €10,000.00 per year / per employee
- Non-cash benefit (no cash payout)
- Implementation as voucher or external non-cash benefit
Fully taxed one-time payments (§ 19 EStG)
- Subject to tax and social security contributions
- No limit on payout amount
- Cash payout
- Typical use cases: bonus payments, premiums, performance bonuses, commissions
- Implementation via regular payroll processing or external non-cash benefits
➕ Creating a Bonus (Step by Step)
- Navigate to the Bonus section on the platform and click "Create bonus"
- Define the title and description of the benefit
- Select the desired tax treatment
- Define the type and period of the payout (one-time or recurring)
- Select the eligible employees
- Optionally compose a message for the employees
- Review all details and confirm the plan
After confirmation, the bonus plan is created and activated at the defined time.
🔁 One-time vs. Recurring: When to Use Which?
The decision between a one-time and a recurring payout depends on whether the benefit is linked to a fixed date or to an individual and unforeseeable event.
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One-time payout: This option is intended for events that don't occur regularly (e.g., weddings, project bonuses, or passed exams)
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Recurring payout: You define a rule and the payout occurs automatically. The rule can be based on stored employee data (birthday, anniversary) or self-selected intervals
Availability
In principle, both one-time and recurring payouts are available for all tax treatments.
One exception is the special occasion: While birthdays and anniversaries can be planned both one-time and recurring, all other occasions (e.g., birth or wedding) can only be created as one-time events.
Anniversary Logic
Two variants are distinguished here:
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One-time: Captures a specific milestone (e.g., specifically the 10th anniversary)
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Recurring: Defines a fixed rhythm (e.g., every 5 years) that is checked individually for each employee and triggered automatically
Participant List for One-time Birthdays
Once a one-time birthday bonus is active, no additional employees can be added (removal remains possible). The list should therefore be carefully checked before confirmation.
💬 Communication with Employees
The process for employees differs depending on the payout type of the additional benefit:
🎁 Voucher-based Payout
- Employees receive a message in the pxtra app
- The voucher is selected independently in the app, corresponding to the amount of the benefit
- Selection period for vouchers:
- Non-cash benefit: Selection within 1 month
- All other benefits: Selection within 3 months
- After delivery, vouchers are redeemable for 3 years with the respective voucher partner
🤝 External Implementation (without voucher selection)
- Employees receive a message in the pxtra app
- The message informs that the additional benefit will be implemented externally
- Further processing is handled by the company (no action required by employees)
💶 Payout with Salary (only for fully taxed one-time payments)
- Employees receive a message in the pxtra app
- The message informs that the payout will occur with the next regular salary payment
For communication, templates, placeholders, and free text are available. The message is displayed to employees in the pxtra app.
📤 Export & Processing
All created bonuses are automatically assigned to the correct salary type in the export.
- The selected tax treatment of the bonus determines the salary type used
- The salary type ensures that the payment is correctly processed and taxed in the payroll system
- pxtra transfers the relevant information in a structured format to the export
You decide which bonuses are included in the export. Tax treatments and payout types can be freely combined and individually activated or deactivated as needed.
Configuration of Salary Types
The wage type assignment for the Bonus Module can be found in the Payroll Export Settings under the "Benefits" tab.
👉 Go to settings
Final tax and social security processing takes place in the respective payroll system.
🚨 Important Notes
- The Bonus Module does not constitute tax or legal advice
- Responsibility for correct application lies with the company
- Already active bonus plans can only be modified to a limited extent
🔧 Still Have Questions?
If you have questions or uncertainties, feel free to contact our support: