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> I'd rather get the share of money spent on the junk food and do whatever I want with them. That would be true if not for taxes. A meal at the office is eff
by bpodgursky 11y ago
> I'd rather get the share of money spent on the junk food and do whatever I want with them.
That would be true if not for taxes. A meal at the office is effectively 40-50% cheaper than the corresponding paycheck increase.
- mynegation 11y agoThat is a fair point. I am a contractor though and from taxation point of view my remuneration and cookies are the same for the company - they just pay me whatever and I take care of my taxes. In Canada, they may even get some R&D credit on my pay, which you do not get for cookies. I am all for power of wholesale bargains for good things, like cheaper gym membership with the corporate account.
- such_a_casual 11y agoThis is a really good point. I would have never thought of that.
- kspaans 11y agoAren't perks for employees a taxable benefit? (Maybe the employer pays the taxes rather than the employee...)
- spacecowboy_lon 11y agoI think the IRS for some reason hasn't clamped down on this benefit in kind. HMRC wanted to charge the employees tax when one big UK employer wanted to roll out free tea and coffee. Apparently the CFO got pissed off over this found a loop hole and we all got 120 free shares that year as a way of going F You to HMRC
- kspaans 11y agoYeah for snacks and company-provided meals I can see it being grey enough to be "meh". But I remember back when I worked at RIM in Waterloo, I heard that a reason they couldn't sell parking passes to their underused parking lots near the UW campus was that it would make the 'free' passes employees got a taxable benefit (and all of the headaches that implied). I guess if the perks can be taken from the office (phone bills paid?) that's an easy argument for taxability.