3 ms·

It used to be that you could give employees gift cards up to a certain amount as awards and it would not be considered taxable income (but I believe that's no

It used to be that you could give employees gift cards up to a certain amount as awards and it would not be considered taxable income (but I believe that's no longer the case).

jagged-chisel 5y ago
Any gift(s) up to a total value of ... $13k? -ish? I don't know what the limit is now. Google's cafeteria is (was? depending on that limit...) an example of how to benefit employees without causing the employee additional tax.
- mikeyouse 5y ago
  That's a different issue - IRS clamped down on gift cards and non-cash compensation that used to be considered de minimis. Now most employers gross up and report any gift card type gift over ~$5. https://www.irs.gov/government-entities/federal-state-local-governments/de-minimis-fringe-benefits https://www.irs.gov/government-entities/federal-state-local-...
- dmoy 5y ago
  Setting aside the gift card bit (addressed in above comment), $13k sounds way too high. Like two orders of magnitude too high. From irs.gov > Whether an item or service is de minimis depends on all the facts and circumstances. In addition, if a benefit is too large to be considered de minimis, the entire value of the benefit is taxable to the employee, not just the excess over a designated de minimis amount. 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. Which about matches with what I've seen at BigCo. $40 box of tools as a gift? Did not show up on my paycheck. $150 electronic device as a gift? Showed up on my paycheck.
  - mikeyouse 5y ago
    There's another about other fringe benefits being taxed - with a prime example being tech cafeterias. https://taxnews.ey.com/news/2019-0493-employer-must-substantiate-necessity-of-employer-provided-meals-for-value-to-be-excluded-from-employee-income-irs-tam-emphasizes https://taxnews.ey.com/news/2019-0493-employer-must-substant... In the past few years, guidance has shifted toward accounting for employer-provided food with employee income as well.
    - dmoy 5y ago
      I don't think that's actually enforced yet though. I would bet the IRS wins that particular fight, but it'll take awhile.

It used to be that you could give employees gift cards up to a certain amount as awards and it would not be considered taxable income (but I believe that's no longer the case).

jagged-chisel 5y ago

Any gift(s) up to a total value of ... $13k? -ish? I don't know what the limit is now. Google's cafeteria is (was? depending on that limit...) an example of how to benefit employees without causing the employee additional tax.

mikeyouse 5y ago
That's a different issue - IRS clamped down on gift cards and non-cash compensation that used to be considered de minimis. Now most employers gross up and report any gift card type gift over ~$5. https://www.irs.gov/government-entities/federal-state-local-governments/de-minimis-fringe-benefits https://www.irs.gov/government-entities/federal-state-local-...
dmoy 5y ago
Setting aside the gift card bit (addressed in above comment), $13k sounds way too high. Like two orders of magnitude too high. From irs.gov > Whether an item or service is de minimis depends on all the facts and circumstances. In addition, if a benefit is too large to be considered de minimis, the entire value of the benefit is taxable to the employee, not just the excess over a designated de minimis amount. 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. Which about matches with what I've seen at BigCo. $40 box of tools as a gift? Did not show up on my paycheck. $150 electronic device as a gift? Showed up on my paycheck.
- mikeyouse 5y ago
  There's another about other fringe benefits being taxed - with a prime example being tech cafeterias. https://taxnews.ey.com/news/2019-0493-employer-must-substantiate-necessity-of-employer-provided-meals-for-value-to-be-excluded-from-employee-income-irs-tam-emphasizes https://taxnews.ey.com/news/2019-0493-employer-must-substant... In the past few years, guidance has shifted toward accounting for employer-provided food with employee income as well.
  - dmoy 5y ago
    I don't think that's actually enforced yet though. I would bet the IRS wins that particular fight, but it'll take awhile.