Quick answer: A branded Visa or Mastercard gift card your team can use anywhere, a recipient-choice card that lets each person pick their own brand or cash out, or a popular single-brand card (Amazon, Target, Starbucks, DoorDash, Apple) when you know your team's taste. One thing to plan for before you buy: gift cards given to employees are taxable wages. Ready to reward your team? Start at perfectgift.com/corporate.
The best gift card for employees is one that works for the whole team and still feels personal. That usually comes down to one of three:
- A branded Visa or Mastercard gift card your team can use anywhere, with your logo on it. The safe default when you can't guess individual taste and want the reward to come from you.
- A recipient-choice card that lets each person pick their own brand, swap to a Visa or Mastercard, or cash out. One gift that fits a whole team.
- A popular single-brand card, when you know what your team loves, such as Amazon, Target, Starbucks, DoorDash, or Apple.
One thing to plan for before you buy: gift cards given to employees are taxable wages (details below).
The best types of gift cards for employees
1. A branded Visa or Mastercard gift card
This is the most flexible option: the recipient can use it anywhere that network is accepted, so nobody is stuck with a card for a store they don't shop at. Through a business issuer you can add your logo, which turns a generic reward into recognition that points back to your company. The same card covers holidays, milestones, and spot bonuses.
2. A recipient-choice card
If you'd rather let people choose, a recipient-choice card sends one reward that each employee redeems their own way. PerfectGift+, for example, lets a recipient pick from 300+ national brands, swap the balance to a Visa or Mastercard, or deposit it via Zelle, all under your branding. It removes the guesswork across a diverse team without turning the gift into a spreadsheet of individual preferences.
3. Popular single-brand cards employees use
When you know your team, a well-chosen brand card works. The categories employees choose most often:
- Food and coffee: Starbucks, DoorDash, Uber Eats.
- Everyday retail: Amazon, Target, Walmart.
- Tech: Apple, Best Buy.
- Beauty and wellness: Sephora, plus spa and fitness brands.
A single-brand card only works if the recipient likes that brand, so across a mixed team it's a bet. Most employers default to a card that works everywhere and save the brand cards for smaller groups they know well.
Compare the options
| Option | Best for | Works for everyone | Carries your brand | Watch-out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Branded Visa / Mastercard | Any team, recognition + holidays | Yes | Yes | Taxable wages (plan withholding) |
| Recipient-choice card | Diverse teams, let people pick | Yes | Yes | Taxable wages |
| Single-brand card (Amazon, Starbucks, etc.) | Teams whose taste you know | No | Limited | You're betting on one brand |
| Cash bonus | Pure payout | Yes | No | Feels like pay, not recognition |
Gift cards are the most prevalent non-cash reward across corporate incentive and recognition programs, according to the Incentive Research Foundation, largely because they feel more personal than cash and are simple to give at scale.
Best gift cards for specific situations
The best card also shifts with the moment. A small card given the day someone earned it does more than a bigger one handed out months later with everyone else, so match the reward to the timing and the reason, not just the budget.
- Holidays and year-end: a branded card in a carrier or greeting card, so a seasonal thank-you looks the part.
- Remote teams: a digital branded card or recipient-choice card sent by email or text, delivered in minutes wherever people are.
- Wellness: a recipient-choice card lets people apply it to fitness, spa, or self-care brands they'd use, rather than guessing.
- Spot bonuses and recognition: a card with the person's name and a short message, so it feels like a thank-you rather than a line on a payslip.
- International employees: PerfectGift is US-only, so for a global team a rewards platform built for international delivery (Tango, Tremendous, or Giftbit) is the better fit.
Are gift cards for employees taxable?
Yes, and this is the part that trips up new programs. The IRS treats a gift card as a cash equivalent, so a gift card given to an employee is taxable wages, no matter how small the amount. Unlike a small non-cash item (the classic example is a holiday turkey), a gift card is never excludable as a "de minimis" benefit.
That means the card's value should be included in the employee's W-2 and is subject to income tax and payroll (Social Security and Medicare) withholding. If you want the employee to keep the full face value, you can gross up the award so the added amount covers the tax. The employee achievement award exception (for length-of-service or safety awards) applies to tangible personal property, not to cash or gift cards, so it doesn't cover a gift card.
Divide the amount you want the employee to keep by (1 minus their combined tax rate). To leave an employee with $100 after tax at a 30% combined rate, you'd gross up to about $143 ($100 ÷ 0.70). Your actual rates and payroll treatment will vary, so this is a planning estimate, not tax advice. Confirm the details with your payroll or tax advisor before you run a program.
The tax itself rarely causes hard feelings. A surprise does. An employee who sees a smaller-than-expected paycheck because a gift was taxed remembers the deduction, not the gesture, so either gross up the award or tell people up front that it's taxable.
How to give gift cards to employees
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Pick the card type. A branded Visa or Mastercard for a mixed team, a recipient-choice card to let people pick, or a specific brand for a group whose taste you know.
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Brand it. Add your logo, plus a per-person name and message, so it comes across as recognition, not a payout.
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Set the amount, and plan for tax. Choose the value, and decide whether to gross up so the tax comes out of your budget instead of the employee's card.
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Choose delivery. Digital by email or text for remote or last-minute, physical for an in-person hand-off. PerfectGift sends digital in minutes and ships physical the same day when ordered before 4pm ET.
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Distribute and record. Send in bulk, track activation and redemption, and pass the taxable value to payroll for W-2 reporting.
A reward only counts once it's redeemed. Every step between getting a card and spending it, an account to create, a long brand menu, a link to dig up, is a step where value slips away unused, so favor the option your team will use over the one with the longest feature list.
Start at perfectgift.com/corporate.
Why businesses use PerfectGift for employee gift cards
For a reward that suits everyone and still carries your brand, PerfectGift covers the whole job: branded Visa or Mastercard cards with your logo, or PerfectGift+ so each person chooses from 300+ brands, swaps to a Visa or Mastercard, or cashes out via Zelle. Add a name and message to every card, send digital in minutes or ship physical the same day, with no recipient-side fees, across 14,000+ companies. Small orders are self-serve with no minimum; ongoing recognition programs run through the corporate path ($10,000+) with account management and an API. The one honest limit: PerfectGift is US-only, so a global workforce needs an international platform.
Ready to reward your team with a card everyone can use?
Set Up Employee Rewards on PerfectGift.com →Frequently asked questions
A branded Visa or Mastercard gift card is the safest choice for a mixed team, because it works anywhere and can carry your logo. A recipient-choice card is a close second when you want people to pick their own brand. Single-brand cards (Amazon, Starbucks, Target) work when you know the team's taste.
Often gift cards, and there's a behavioral reason: a $100 gift card tends to feel bigger than a $100 cash bonus, because cash gets mentally filed next to salary while a gift card is judged on its own, as a gift. Gift cards are also the most prevalent non-cash reward in corporate programs, per the Incentive Research Foundation. Both a gift card and a cash bonus are taxable wages, so the difference is in how the reward feels, not the tax.
Yes. The IRS treats gift cards as a cash equivalent, so they're taxable wages regardless of amount and aren't excludable as a de minimis benefit. Include the value in the employee's W-2 and withhold income and payroll taxes; you can gross up the award if you want the employee to keep the full value. This is general information, not tax advice.
A branded Visa or Mastercard card in a greeting card or carrier works for any team at year-end. A recipient-choice card is a strong alternative when tastes vary across the group.
Digital cards, sent by email or text and delivered in minutes. A branded or recipient-choice digital card reaches remote and distributed teams without shipping.
PerfectGift is US-only, so for employees outside the US a rewards platform built for international delivery (such as Tango, Tremendous, or Giftbit) is the better fit.
Beyond the usual retail cards: a recipient-choice card built around wellness or experiences, a card branded to a specific team win, or a card paired with a handwritten note or small tangible gift.
Tangible non-cash gifts and experiences are the main alternative, and certain length-of-service or safety achievement awards of tangible property can be tax-excludable within IRS limits (gift cards can't). Cash bonuses are simplest but feel like pay rather than recognition.
It depends on the occasion. Recognition and holiday cards commonly fall in the $25–$100 range, with more for milestones. Whatever the amount, remember it's taxable, so decide up front whether to gross it up.
