No joke. I worked for a company that paid over a million in taxes because the IRS wanted to come after us for years worth of free services we had gotten, as perks. Rather than hit the morale, the company paid the taxes that we employees would have been responsible for. Naturally, the freebies came to a screeching halt . .
A gift is not income. What may have been a “freebie” in your company is presumptively compensation because of the employer-employee relationship. Your employer may have intended to be generous, but generosity in the context of employment is compensation. Look up Commissioner v. Duberstein.