What's With This Entitlement to PRIVATE Meals at Google?

[NotYourBusiness]

<p>From a recent post in Slashdot:</p>

<p>[No</a> Such Thing As a Tax-Free Lunch At Google? - Slashdot](<a href=“No Such Thing As a Tax-Free Lunch At Google? - Slashdot”>No Such Thing As a Tax-Free Lunch At Google? - Slashdot)</p>

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In search of the best corporate cafeteria in the world, Gourmet Live’s Tanya Steel visited the Googleplex, where she found Petaluma chicken cacciatore, porcini-encrusted grass-fed beef, whole-wheat spaghetti pomodoro, and Parmesan-creamed onions on the menu in one of the search giant’s 25 cafes. So, must all good things come to an end? The WSJ’s Mark Maremont reports that it’s debatable whether Silicon Valley’s daily fringe-benefit meals are taxable, and the issue is now on the IRS’s radar. ‘What would a food tax on Google’s meals look like for the average employee?’ Maremont asks. ‘Assuming a fair-market value of between $8 and $10 per meal, a Googler chowing down two squares a day could get dinged for taxes on an extra $4,000 to $5,000 a year.’ That’d be just fine with UF tax-law Prof. Martin J. McMahon. ‘I buy my lunch with after-tax dollars,’ said McMahon. ‘And I have to pay taxes to support free meals for those Google employees.’

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<p>The question is: Does tax-law Prof. Martin J. McMahon has a an <em>Entitlement</em> to PRIVATE meals?</p>

<p>Edit: To the moderators: This thread is relevant to financial aid because it relates to the issue of whether private colleges and universities can do whatever they want with their money without scrutiny from other citizens.</p>

[vlines]

<p>I think the IRS would have to charge all employees that get free coffee, yearly t-shirts, pizza at meetings, and breakfast pasteries at some of the most basic places of employment. </p>

<p>I am not sure how his tax money is supporting free meals at google either.</p>

[cptofthehouse]

<p>Google is not the only place that does this. UBS used to have a cafeteria where all could eat so eat, as did a number of other places. I know some private schools where lunch is free for all who happen to be there while it’s being served. The same with work place coffee and such that Vlines mentions. Google just happens to do theirs up first class.</p>

<p>I guess those Admissions Counselors at colleges would have to be taxed on all those spreads that the college puts out for visitors and such too.</p>

[_rentof2]

<p>Well, I know my kid has to pay income taxes on his grant aid from the college that goes toward room and board. All students who receive aid beyond “qualified educational expenses” (tuition, fees, books) have to pay taxes on the money. So Google is way behind colleges on this issue.</p>

[NotYourBusiness]

<p>Although I am not a tax expert, Meals are part of “Taxable Benefits”. However, there are exclusions. This comes directly from the IRS:</p>

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This section discusses the exclusion rules that apply to de
minimis meals and meals on your business premises.</p>

<p>De Minimis Meals</p>

<p>You can exclude any occasional meal or meal money 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 does not apply to meal money figured on the basis of hours worked.
  *Occasional parties or picnics for employees and their guests.

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<p>Source: <a href=“http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15b.pdf[/url]”>http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15b.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[bluebayou]

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Edit: To the moderators: This thread is relevant to financial aid because it relates to the issue of whether private colleges and universities can do whatever they want with their money without scrutiny from other citizens.

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<p>I guess I’m a little dense, and fail to see any connection between a multi-billion dollar public company, and a private college.</p>

[sybbie719]

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@notyourbusines

Edit: To the moderators: This thread is relevant to financial aid because it relates to the issue of whether private colleges and universities can do whatever they want with their money without scrutiny from other citizens.

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@bluebayou

I guess I’m a little dense, and fail to see any connection between a multi-billion dollar public company, and a private college.

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<p>Which is why the thread is being moved</p>

[razorsharp]

<p>Google’s objective is to keep employees at the office working longer and interacting more. It’s good business and I wish more companies did this.</p>

[Krlilies]

<p>A lot of companies do this not just Google. Bloomberg does this too. There are companies who give free chocolates, sell discounted infant formula, cosmetics, etc. to employees.</p>

[NotYourBusiness]

<p>My last post on this site:</p>

<p>I’m out of here. Too much group thinking. I know I will not be missed.</p>

[Philovitist]

<p>God forbid the thread exist in some forum different from the one you posted it in.</p>

[Halogen]

<p>Props to any company that helps its employees (or clients) avoid taxation. That’s smart business.</p>

[woodswoman]

<p>I’m no tax expert, but I was under the impression that if an employer provided a benefit to only some employees, it was taxable and if was for all, it wasn’t. Are the meals free or inexpensive? The important point is they sound delicious. Many companies have cafeterias that are very reasonably priced and I would assume they are operating at or below cost, not as a profit center. The same could be said for company based gyms. In your example it seems to me it is Google deciding their employees are entitled to a first class lunch, not the employees themselves.</p>

[emeraldkity4]

<p>If they have such great cafeteria, how come they are always crowding the deli at PCC?
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