Posted on 09/12/2014 7:31:37 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
As if its appetite were not insatiable enough already, Obama’s Internal Revenue Service is considering taxing the free lunch.
Some companies offer workers mid-day meals on the house. This encourages their employees to stay near work, dine with colleagues, exchange ideas, avoid nosy competitors, and then return to their duties. These voluntary arrangements are among the things that attract people to high-tech companies like Apple, Google, and PayPal.
According to the Wall Street Journal, “IRS auditors are now flagging the issue and demanding back taxes from companies amounting to 30 percent of the meals’ fair-market value.” So if an employee eats three $25 lunches per week at work, then after 50 weeks, the 30 percent Obama Lunch Tax would cost that worker or his company $1,125 in new taxes.
It would be bad enough to inflict the Obama Lunch Tax prospectively. But applying this as a back tax — likely with penalties and interest — is tyrannical and unconstitutional. America’s founding document forbids ex post facto laws. How can businesses operate in fear of new taxes that may erupt, and then be applied retroactively? What’s to stop the IRS in 2017 from declaring a photocopying tax and docking companies for employees’ personal use of Xerox machines . . . from 2009 through 2016?
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
The nannies already killed the holiday office party.
Why Not!!!!
Whew! For a second I thought 0bama was taxing EBT cards.
What company is providing $25.00 lunches? You’re hard-pressed to spend that much at a high-end restaurant (unless you’re doing the 3-martini thing).
Because they can. And our spineless congress will do nothing to stop it.
Companies should start catering-in and deducting it as a business expense
Will the IRS/Obama next tax Mess-Hall meals in the military?
I worked for a co for 15 years that had a team of chefs with lunch served daily.
Those were ‘some’ of the days....
Since it would mainly affect Bay Area techie firms who contribute to and shill for Liberals, and censor us on search engines...I’m actually OK with it.
How about targeting free meals kids get at schools? They don’t have to use food stamps for them, and besides that some people are gaming the system.
Probably a works in progress. It would not surprise me.
I know a company that has a cafeteria where they ask you “eating in?” (or taking to your desk), if yes they charge you more...claiming something about taxes.
Can anybody clarify this for me?
Of course, when it was my own money, or a set allowance, I found a Bistro for under $10 or used one of those ubiquitous snack carts for even less . . .
I appreciate the idea that it is a benefit that is potentially taxable income were the employee to fund his own meals.
But this is headed down the road to the same brand of idiocy that brought us imputed taxes on the value of life insurance, and where they wanted to impute an income level on the potential rental value of the house that I live in.
Next, they will be imputing income of meals provided by the company while I am traveling on company business as a benefit and the cost of the hotels and air transportation and so-forth will all be taxable to me as an employee.
Why isn't congress breaking the IRS into a million pieces or, better yet, abolishing it?
** TAX OBAMAPHONES **
I don’t care. When employers for everyone outside silicon valley provide things for employees, it becomes imputed income. Apartments, travel, tickets, etc.
Nobody cared until the tech kids were looked at. They are used to free ponys, gourmet lunches, free transportation, etc.
About time. The google kids screw us politically every chance they get. Now it’s their turn in the barrel. I just hope they find it educational. I know they value new ways of thinking and all.
It’s not a new thing, it’s just enforcing something already on the books. A non-cash benefit for an employee is still part of their compensation, and is therefore taxable. It’s stupid, but it makes perfect sense within the context of an income tax code.
But what if we didn’t tax incomes? What if we only taxed retail goods and services at the point of sale? Well, then it doesn’t matter if XYZ Corp buys the meal for the employee, the company provides John Doe the cash to go get the meal, or John buys it out of his own pocket - the meal is simply taxed at the point of purchase by whomever is doing it, no accounting or filing by XYZ Corp or John Doe required.
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