5 ms·

"Staff are given daily allowances of $20 for breakfast, $25 for lunch, and $25 for dinner" Doesn't it seem quite extravagant to pay 20 USD for breakfast or lun

"Staff are given daily allowances of $20 for breakfast, $25 for lunch, and $25 for dinner" Doesn't it seem quite extravagant to pay 20 USD for breakfast or lunch? Are the 70USD taxed?

j7ake 2y ago
Not extravagant in high cost of living areas.
- rightbyte 2y ago
  Have relative restaurant pricing in 'high cost areas' in the US changed since the 2010s? I remember SF as being about as expansive as about anywhere else for the equivalent quality.
  - lotsofpulp 2y ago
    $20 is what I would plan to spend on a decent (not fancy setting, just not low quality) meal in SF. For waited service, I would budget $30, excluding even non alcoholic beverages. Could be $5 less though, if you go out of your way to find lower prices. Same in the other west coast cities and NYC, except Portland. Portland is probably $5 less. Note that the article says the meal credits are for prepared food delivered to a Meta office location, so the meal credit also includes cost of delivery: > Staff based in smaller offices without a canteen are offered Uber Eats or Grubhub credits, for example, for food to be delivered to the office.
    - j7ake 2y ago
      Honestly McDonald’s plus delivery is probably going to hit 15-20 dollars these days.
naveen99 2y ago
Personal meals are 100% employee income. Business meals are 50% employee income and 50% business expense. Which is the real issue. If nsa / irs / sec catches Facebook under policing , they will take a pound of flesh from Facebook, instead of the finger sticks from the employees. same way, banks get fined for under policing money laundering.
- shagie 2y ago
  That was changed recently. https://www.irs.gov/publications/p15b https://www.irs.gov/publications/p15b De Minimis Meals You can exclude any occasional meal you provide to an employee if it has so little value (taking into account how frequently you provide meals to your employees) that accounting for it would be unreasonable or administratively impracticable. The exclusion applies, for example, to the following items. Coffee, doughnuts, or soft drinks. Occasional meals or meal money provided to enable an employee to work overtime. However, the exclusion doesn't apply to meal money figured on the basis of hours worked (for example, $2.00 per hour for each hour over 8 hours), or meals or meal money provided on a regular or routine basis. Occasional parties or picnics for employees and their guests. ... Section 13304 of P.L. 115-97 changed the rules for the deduction of food or beverage expenses that are excludable from employee income as a de minimis fringe benefit. For amounts incurred or paid after 2017, the 50% limit on deductions for food or beverage expenses also applies to food or beverage expenses excludable from employee income as a de minimis fringe benefit. However, food or beverage expenses related to employee recreation, such as holiday parties or annual picnics, aren't subject to the 50% limit on deductions when made primarily for the benefit of your employees other than employees who are officers, shareholders or other owners who own a 10% or greater interest in your business, or other highly compensated employees. For more information, see Regulations section 1.274-12. While your business deduction may be limited, the fringe benefit exclusion rules still apply and the de minimis fringe benefits may be excluded from your employee's wages, as discussed earlier. Still an issue with under policing, but the deductible limits have changed and the "Occasional meals or meal money provided to enable an employee to work overtime" is specifically called out as an example of permitted de minimis examples. Note the occasional and meal. This wasn't intended for every day or non-food items.
acdha 2y ago
Remember that this is delivered. With the markup for that, $20 covers a McDonald’s breakfast and coffee with a couple dollars to spare. Even if the food is cheap, having a personal taxi deliver it is not.

"Staff are given daily allowances of $20 for breakfast, $25 for lunch, and $25 for dinner" Doesn't it seem quite extravagant to pay 20 USD for breakfast or lunch? Are the 70USD taxed?

j7ake 2y ago

Not extravagant in high cost of living areas.

rightbyte 2y ago
Have relative restaurant pricing in 'high cost areas' in the US changed since the 2010s? I remember SF as being about as expansive as about anywhere else for the equivalent quality.
- lotsofpulp 2y ago
  $20 is what I would plan to spend on a decent (not fancy setting, just not low quality) meal in SF. For waited service, I would budget $30, excluding even non alcoholic beverages. Could be $5 less though, if you go out of your way to find lower prices. Same in the other west coast cities and NYC, except Portland. Portland is probably $5 less. Note that the article says the meal credits are for prepared food delivered to a Meta office location, so the meal credit also includes cost of delivery: > Staff based in smaller offices without a canteen are offered Uber Eats or Grubhub credits, for example, for food to be delivered to the office.
  - j7ake 2y ago
    Honestly McDonald’s plus delivery is probably going to hit 15-20 dollars these days.

naveen99 2y ago

Personal meals are 100% employee income. Business meals are 50% employee income and 50% business expense. Which is the real issue. If nsa / irs / sec catches Facebook under policing , they will take a pound of flesh from Facebook, instead of the finger sticks from the employees. same way, banks get fined for under policing money laundering.

shagie 2y ago
That was changed recently. https://www.irs.gov/publications/p15b https://www.irs.gov/publications/p15b De Minimis Meals You can exclude any occasional meal you provide to an employee if it has so little value (taking into account how frequently you provide meals to your employees) that accounting for it would be unreasonable or administratively impracticable. The exclusion applies, for example, to the following items. Coffee, doughnuts, or soft drinks. Occasional meals or meal money provided to enable an employee to work overtime. However, the exclusion doesn't apply to meal money figured on the basis of hours worked (for example, $2.00 per hour for each hour over 8 hours), or meals or meal money provided on a regular or routine basis. Occasional parties or picnics for employees and their guests. ... Section 13304 of P.L. 115-97 changed the rules for the deduction of food or beverage expenses that are excludable from employee income as a de minimis fringe benefit. For amounts incurred or paid after 2017, the 50% limit on deductions for food or beverage expenses also applies to food or beverage expenses excludable from employee income as a de minimis fringe benefit. However, food or beverage expenses related to employee recreation, such as holiday parties or annual picnics, aren't subject to the 50% limit on deductions when made primarily for the benefit of your employees other than employees who are officers, shareholders or other owners who own a 10% or greater interest in your business, or other highly compensated employees. For more information, see Regulations section 1.274-12. While your business deduction may be limited, the fringe benefit exclusion rules still apply and the de minimis fringe benefits may be excluded from your employee's wages, as discussed earlier. Still an issue with under policing, but the deductible limits have changed and the "Occasional meals or meal money provided to enable an employee to work overtime" is specifically called out as an example of permitted de minimis examples. Note the occasional and meal. This wasn't intended for every day or non-food items.

acdha 2y ago

Remember that this is delivered. With the markup for that, $20 covers a McDonald’s breakfast and coffee with a couple dollars to spare. Even if the food is cheap, having a personal taxi deliver it is not.