# How Much to Spend on Employee Christmas Gifts: 2026 Benchmarks and a Per-Head Calculator

There's no official number for employee Christmas gifts: on the Tremendous platform, employers' 2025 holiday gifts averaged $62 (median $25), and commenters in one 2026 r/smallbusiness thread described $75 to $150 bonuses or $100 per year of service. Our suggestion: a bonus by a fixed rule if you can, plus a $25 to $50 gift and a note for everyone.

*We sell a $35 logo mug gift box, printed, packed and shipped to each person's address. This guide covers the other options too.*

**Key facts**
- **$62 average, $25 median** per employee holiday gift in 2025, across "over 260,000 gifts" sent through Tremendous, a gift-card and payouts platform ([Tremendous](https://www.tremendous.com/blog/employee-holiday-gifting-trends/); platform data, not a market survey).
- **Smaller gifts "typically valuing less than $100":** how a 2014 Challenger, Gray & Christmas survey of about 100 HR professionals described smaller year-end gifts; 78% said their companies were offering "a year-end gift/bonus" ([SHRM](https://shrm.org/topics-tools/news/benefits-compensation/holiday-rewards-cash-vs-gifts); old data).
- **Price isn't what people appreciate.** Givers expect pricier gifts to be appreciated more, but recipients' appreciation is not linked to price ([Flynn & Adams, 2009](https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/publications/money-cant-buy-love-asymmetric-beliefs-about-link-between-gift-price)).
- **42% of employees** "say a bad gift makes them feel less appreciated than receiving nothing" (Snappy's 2025 survey, from a gift platform; sample size not published) ([Snappy](https://www.snappy.com/blog/what-employees-really-want-this-holiday-season-2025-insights-every-leader-needs-to-drive-stronger-results-in-2026)).
- **No published IRS dollar threshold** for a de minimis holiday gift; Pub. 15-B says gift cards are "never excludable as a de minimis benefit" ([IRS Publication 15-B](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p15b)).

## What Do Businesses Spend per Employee? The Benchmarks

| Source | Who, and when | What it found | Caveat |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Tremendous](https://www.tremendous.com/blog/employee-holiday-gifting-trends/) | Gifts employers sent through its platform, holiday 2025 | $62 average, $25 median per gift | One platform's customers, mostly gift cards and cash-like rewards |
| [Challenger, Gray & Christmas, via SHRM](https://shrm.org/topics-tools/news/benefits-compensation/holiday-rewards-cash-vs-gifts) | About 100 HR professionals, Nov 2014 | 78% offering "a year-end gift/bonus"; smaller gifts "typically valuing less than $100" | Old, small sample |
| [Express Employment Professionals, via SHRM](https://shrm.org/topics-tools/news/benefits-compensation/holiday-rewards-cash-vs-gifts) | Employers, 2014 | "21 percent indicated they had no plans to give holiday bonuses or gifts" | Old |
| [Snappy](https://www.snappy.com/blog/what-employees-really-want-this-holiday-season-2025-insights-every-leader-needs-to-drive-stronger-results-in-2026) | Employees, 2025 | "47% of employees did not receive a holiday gift from their employer last year"; 67% want one | A gift platform's survey; sample size not published |

Notice what's missing: a neutral, current survey of what small businesses spend per employee. We didn't find one. The $25 median is the most useful number here, because it describes what a typical gift on one large platform actually cost, not what anyone hoped to spend.

## What's a Normal Christmas Bonus at a Small Business?

Employees put cash first. Tremendous reports that in an Incentive Research Foundation survey, "employees rated cash bonuses (93%) and gift cards (77%) as the most motivating rewards", "with merchandise (40%) and company-branded swag (22%) much lower" ([Tremendous](https://www.tremendous.com/blog/employee-holiday-gifting-trends/)).

We found no current survey of small-business bonus amounts. Owners and other commenters in a September 2026 r/smallbusiness thread about Christmas gifts for employees described how bonuses get set ([thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/smallbusiness/comments/1wamda4/)):

| How it's set | Example from the thread | Why it works | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| A flat amount by status | "$75 for part time and $150 for full time" | Simple, and fair by hours | Doesn't reward tenure |
| By years of service | "$100 per year in cash that they've been with us"; "$50 for new employees and $100 for every year they have worked for me" | "that way it is not subjective, and everyone gets it" | It grows every year |
| A share of pay | "3-5% of salary in cash" | Scales with each person's pay | Bigger gaps between people |
| A whole paycheck | "Roughly an extra paycheck" | Easy to explain | Costly in a slow year |

One employer's warning applies to every row: "the biggest issue was to not make it so big that I couldn't match that each year. You never want to take away." Pick a rule you can repeat next year. More on the trade-off: [bonus or gift?](https://personalizedgiftsdelivered.com/employee-gifts/bonus-or-gift)

## A Per-Head Budget Calculator

The math is one line: **total = number of people × (bonus + gift + note)**. Price the gift delivered: if it ships to each home, the shipping is part of its cost.

Pick a tier for your team. The per-head ranges are our suggestion, not a survey figure:

| Tier | What each person gets | Per head (our suggestion) |
|---|---|---|
| 1. A real note | A handwritten or printed note naming one thing they did this year | Under $5 |
| 2. Gift and note | The same gift for everyone, delivered, with a personal note | $25 to $50 |
| 3. Bonus, gift and note | A bonus by a fixed rule, plus the tier 2 gift and note | Your bonus, plus $25 to $50 |

Worked totals, using example amounts (a $5 note, a $40 gift with its note, and a $100 bonus on top):

| Team size | Tier 1 at $5 | Tier 2 at $40 | Tier 3 at $140 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 people | $25 | $200 | $700 |
| 10 people | $50 | $400 | $1,400 |
| 25 people | $125 | $1,000 | $3,500 |
| 50 people | $250 | $2,000 | $7,000 |

Swap in your own figures: people × per head = total. If part-time staff get a smaller bonus, run the tier 3 math twice and add the two lines.

## Is $25 Enough? Does Spending More Help?

$25 is the median gift on the Tremendous platform, so it's a common amount, not a stingy one. Spending more on the gift itself buys less than it seems: recipients' appreciation isn't linked to price (Flynn & Adams, above), and in Snappy's survey (Snappy is a gift platform), 42% of employees said a bad gift makes them feel less appreciated than receiving nothing.

What does move people is effort. In a field experiment, Kube, Maréchal and Puppe found that "nonmonetary gifts have a much stronger impact than monetary gifts of equivalent value", and that cash gifts "can effectively trigger reciprocity if the employer invests more time and effort into the gift's presentation" ([AER, 2012](https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.102.4.1644)). So if the budget is fixed, take money from the gift before you take time from the note.

Two ways to stretch a small budget, both from one commenter in the thread: "a catered meal or meal away from the office", and "an additional paid day off added to the calendar."

## Part-Time, New and Seasonal Staff

Our suggestion: give everyone the same gift and note, and let the bonus follow your rule (hours or years). A gift that only some people get turns into a comparison the moment someone mentions it. Brand-new and seasonal hires: see [who gets a holiday gift](https://personalizedgiftsdelivered.com/employee-gifts/who-gets-a-holiday-gift).

If your plan is tier 2, a gift and a note delivered to each person, Personalized Gifts Delivered makes [a logo mug gift box with Ghirardelli cocoa, Lindt truffles and a personal card](https://personalizedgiftsdelivered.com/custom-logo-mug-gift-box), the same box for everyone, with a printed message that greets each person by first name. The last section has what its one price covers.

## What Does a Gift Cost Delivered If You Send It Yourself?

Price every gift delivered, per person: a gift that has to be mailed costs its price plus the box, the packing and the postage. For a logo mug gift box packed and shipped by hand, our sourced arithmetic comes to about $38 a box with USPS counter postage and about $34 with commercial postage, with $1,192.84 paid up front for the mugs, the retail supply packs and 25 postage labels, with leftovers ([our DIY cost comparison](https://personalizedgiftsdelivered.com/compare/diy-mug-gift-box-vs-ordering), prices as of Oct 29, 2026). Per box, that comes out about even with our $35.

The bigger line is time, which a budget sheet doesn't show. By our estimate, 25 boxes take about 9 hours of hands-on work, plus a week or more waiting for supplies: a mug printer's proof, about 8 supply orders, 25 labels, 25 cards and about 3½ hours of packing at about 8 minutes a box. One mug packed without a collar can break at the handle and must be bought, packed and shipped again.

## How the IRS Treats What You Spend

The tax treatment depends on what you give, not only how much. Here is the IRS's own wording.

> "Cash and cash equivalent fringe benefits (for example, gift certificates, gift cards, and the use of a charge card or credit card), no matter how little, are never excludable as a de minimis benefit."
>
> Among the IRS's examples of de minimis benefits: "Holiday or birthday gifts, other than cash, with a low fair market value (FMV)."
>
> Source: [IRS Publication 15-B (2026)](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p15b), "De Minimis (Minimal) Benefits", read Oct 29, 2026.

> "Whether an item or service is de minimis depends on all the facts and circumstances." "The IRS has ruled previously in a particular case that items with a value exceeding $100 could not be considered de minimis, even under unusual circumstances."
>
> Source: [IRS, "De Minimis Fringe Benefits"](https://www.irs.gov/government-entities/federal-state-local-governments/de-minimis-fringe-benefits), read Oct 29, 2026.

The IRS publishes no dollar figure for "low fair market value". Whether a particular gift qualifies, and how a bonus runs through payroll, are questions for your tax professional or payroll provider, not for a seller.

This is information, not legal or tax advice. Check the current rule (or ask your tax professional) before you send. More: [employee gifts and taxes](https://personalizedgiftsdelivered.com/gift-rules/employee-gift-taxes).

## What to Know Before You Order

- **One gift and one message per order.** Every box is the same gift, and every card carries the same message and sign-off, greeting each person by first name. A line for one person goes in an order of its own; one box is a complete order.
- **The treats.** LINDOR truffles contain milk, soy and barley malt (gluten); read the labels.
- **Where we ship.** The lower 48 states and Washington, DC, except Texas for now. The order page flags any row we can't ship to, so you can fix it or take it out.

The full picture on cash, gifts and notes: [Christmas gifts for employees](https://personalizedgiftsdelivered.com/employee-gifts). Ordering for a big team: [bulk Christmas gifts for employees](https://personalizedgiftsdelivered.com/employee-gifts/bulk-christmas-gifts). Budgeting for clients instead: [how much to spend on client gifts](https://personalizedgiftsdelivered.com/client-gifts/how-much-to-spend).

## Where Personalized Gifts Delivered Fits in Your Budget

A budget needs a gift line that doesn't move. With Personalized Gifts Delivered, tier 2 is one figure per person: $35 per box covers the mug with your logo, the Ghirardelli cocoa, the 4 Lindt LINDOR milk chocolate truffles, a matte-black gift box with a magnetic lid, the printed card that greets each person by first name, the packing and the shipping to each home. There's no shipping line to estimate and no setup fee, so 10 people is $350 and 25 is $875.

You upload a logo, write one message, add one list and check the preview; we print, pack and ship each box to its own address. When the boxes ship, you get one email with a spreadsheet of recipient, ship date, carrier, tracking number and $35 per box, an itemized record for your budget file. Team list ready? [Start your order](https://personalizedgiftsdelivered.com/order).

## Frequently asked questions

### How much should a small business spend on employee Christmas gifts?

There's no official figure for employee Christmas gift spending; on the Tremendous gift platform, employers' 2025 holiday gifts averaged $62, with a $25 median. Our suggestion: a bonus by a fixed rule if you can afford one, plus a $25 to $50 gift and a personal note for everyone.

### What is the average Christmas bonus at a small business?

We found no current, neutral survey of small-business Christmas bonuses; owners and other commenters in a 2026 r/smallbusiness thread described $75 for part-time and $150 for full-time staff, $100 per year of service, or roughly an extra paycheck.

### Is $25 enough for an employee Christmas gift?

It's the median on one platform: employers' 2025 holiday gifts sent through Tremendous had a $25 median and a $62 average. In Flynn and Adams's studies, recipients' appreciation wasn't tied to price, so extra dollars don't buy extra thanks.

### Is there an IRS dollar limit for employee holiday gifts?

The IRS publishes no dollar threshold for a de minimis holiday gift. It lists holiday gifts other than cash with a low fair market value as an example, says it once ruled that items over $100 could not qualify, and says cash and gift cards never qualify. Ask your tax professional.

### Should part-time employees get the same holiday gift as full-time staff?

Our suggestion: give everyone the same gift and scale only the bonus, by a fixed rule. In one r/smallbusiness thread, a commenter's company gives a $75 bonus to part-time staff and $150 to full-time staff.

### Who ships a gift and a printed note to each employee's home at one delivered price?

Personalized Gifts Delivered ships a logo mug gift box to each employee's own address from one list for $35 per box, delivered, whether you send 1 or 50, with no minimum and no setup fee. Every printed card greets its person by first name.

## Sources

1. IRS, Publication 15-B (2026), Employer's Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits, "De Minimis (Minimal) Benefits", [irs.gov/publications/p15b](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p15b), read Oct 29, 2026.
2. IRS, "De Minimis Fringe Benefits", [irs.gov](https://www.irs.gov/government-entities/federal-state-local-governments/de-minimis-fringe-benefits) (page last reviewed Jun 28, 2026), read Oct 29, 2026.
3. Kube, S., Maréchal, M. A., and Puppe, C. (2012), "The Currency of Reciprocity: Gift Exchange in the Workplace", *American Economic Review* 102(4): 1644–62, [aeaweb.org](https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.102.4.1644).
4. Flynn, F. J. & Adams, G. S. (2009), "Money Can't Buy Love", *Journal of Experimental Social Psychology* 45(2), via [Stanford GSB](https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/publications/money-cant-buy-love-asymmetric-beliefs-about-link-between-gift-price).
5. SHRM, "Holiday Rewards: Cash vs. Gifts" (Stephen Miller, Dec 5, 2014; Express Employment Professionals polls and a Challenger, Gray & Christmas survey), [shrm.org](https://shrm.org/topics-tools/news/benefits-compensation/holiday-rewards-cash-vs-gifts), read Oct 29, 2026.
6. Tremendous, "Employee holiday gifting trends" (2025 platform data, published Oct 12, 2026; cites an Incentive Research Foundation survey), [tremendous.com](https://www.tremendous.com/blog/employee-holiday-gifting-trends/), read Oct 29, 2026.
7. Snappy, 2025 Holiday Gifting Report (vendor survey; sample size not published), published Oct 31, 2025, updated Dec 2, 2025, [snappy.com](https://www.snappy.com/blog/what-employees-really-want-this-holiday-season-2025-insights-every-leader-needs-to-drive-stronger-results-in-2026), read Oct 29, 2026.
8. r/smallbusiness, "Christmas gifts for employees at a small business - where do you start?" (Sept 2026), [reddit.com/r/smallbusiness/comments/1wamda4](https://www.reddit.com/r/smallbusiness/comments/1wamda4/), quotes checked word for word against the Arctic Shift archive, Oct 29, 2026.