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Hospital staff get baked potato as a 'Christmas bonus' from work (and got taxed on it)
(www.indy100.com)
this post was submitted on 21 Dec 2023
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Here is a little something from the IRS pub 525 about bonuses.
Bonuses and awards. Bonuses or awards you receive for outstanding work are included in your income and should be shown on your Form W-2. These include prizes such as vacation trips for meeting sales goals. If the prize or award you receive is goods or services, you must include the FMV of the goods or services in your income. However, if your employer merely promises to pay you a bonus or award at some future time, it isn’t taxable until you receive it or it’s made available to you.
So do they really believe the fair market value of a potato is $12? The IRS doesn't go by retail price.
The FMV for a pound of russet potatoes is $2.50 soo yeah no they are doing too much and should be reported.
Meals and lodging
You don't include in your income the value of meals and lodging provided to you and your family by your employer at no charge if the following conditions are met.
The meals are: Furnished on the business premises of your employer, and Furnished for the convenience of your employer.
The cost of food is not the only factor that determines it's value. It's a service being provided, not an object.
It's still a bullshit bonus and everyone who thought it was a good idea should kill themselves, but they didn't just get a raw potato.
I see your point, but labor cost for a single baked potato that was probably cooked at the same time as the rest of them would still be minimal.
A baked potato was $25 at the strip club I used to frequent, but for that you got two strippers bringing it to you while playing a rather amusing game of hot potato.
And here I thought baked potatoes were supposed to be savoury.
That sounds worth every cent.
That SMCF, and yes that honestly sounds worth it to me.
It's a "potato bar" not just a potatoes to presumably that price is intended to include all the bacon, cheese, etc.
Really though it's probably just whatever the hotel cafeteria charges for potato because that's a lot easier than coming up with a new price and then justifying it in case of an audit.
I believe they have to be doing something shady, there is no way in hell that would cost$15 per person. Even a nice potato bar is $11 per person according to Google. I'm not an expert in business finance but I know bulk means less cost.
The last part makes it sound like the potato bonus is not taxable. I guess it depends on how you interpret employer "convenience" here.
If it's a potato feast as lunch, it's not taxable and if they still deduct it, it's wage theft.
So, get your Christmas bonus by suing your employer, then get the actual bonus by leaving and getting a less toxic employer. Don't forget to roast them harder than the potato on Glassdoor as you're leaving.