l****z
发帖数: 29846 | 1 by Jackier
国外媒体周日发表文章，关注硅谷科技公司所提供的免费餐食是否应该缴税。目前，这
一话题已经在美国引起相关讨论，而美国国内税务局(The Internal Revenue Service)
也开始进行相关调研。
以下为文章概要：
当访客参观硅谷，他们首先注意到的往往是食物，比如说谷歌、Facebook以及其他科技
公司为员工开设的自助餐厅，里面供应着各种免费的美食和点心。
不过，这样的免费食物可能不会永远免费下去。对于如何看待这些令人垂涎欲滴的免费
食品，税务专家也众说纷纭。据长期跟踪这部分业务的律师透露，美国国内税务局(IRS
)也对此事给予了关注，针对免费食物是否算员工的额外福利而需缴纳额外税款展开调
研。
税法中关于额外福利的条款相当复杂，但总而言之他们将雇主经常性向员工提供的餐食
算作应税福利。这一点类似于公车私用。这一根据也导致一些税务专家提出这样的疑问
，一些提供免费食物的公司可能正在逃税。
美国佛罗里达大学(University of Florida)税法教授马丁?麦克马洪(Martin J.
McMahon, Jr.)认为，绝大多数情况下餐食算是工资报酬组成的一部分，他认为雇员应
该为这部分收入缴税。
就是因为税，硅谷的免费食物要没了？ - Jackier - Jackiers IT BLOG
其他律师则指出，如果出于雇主利益考虑而向员工提供的非报酬性质餐食则属于例外，
而这种情况则不需要缴税。这种情况适用于包括办公地点偏远以及不能享受合理的午餐
休息时间的工作。持这一观点的律师认为科技公司属于这一例外，部分原因是免费食物
能够鼓励员工进行长时间的工作，而这恰好是硅谷合作文化的重要组成部分。
法律顾问公司以及游说组织Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC驻华盛顿雇佣税务律师托
马斯?克莱恩(Thomas M. Cryan, Jr.)则表示，IRS在对公司进行审计时往往对征收免费
食物税问题上有偏见。
克莱恩的客户中有硅谷的大型科技公司，不过他拒绝透露公司的名称。克莱恩说：“如
果IRS来进行审计，而我们不对餐食征税的话，他们就会为此提出异议。”
不过，克莱恩也透露，往往雇主会摆平这一切。通常做法是，公司现对免费食物按市场
价计算，然后把这部分算到员工的工资单，最后公司再通过支付其额外的收入以弥补缴
税损失。一般是不会让员工埋单的。
对于此事，IRS发言人拒绝置评。
谷歌网站称，该公司在全球有120家自助餐厅，每天提供大约5万份餐食，其目的是为了
培养合作精神并使员工能吃得健康。谷歌发言人对员工餐食的纳税处理方法拒绝置评。
一些近期离职的谷歌员工称，公司不会将其餐食花费纳入工资单或是W-2报税单。
Facebook的一位发言人则认为，其做法赴符合法律规定。
从技术层面上说，任何未付的补缴税款应该由雇员承担。但在操作上，税务律师称，由
于公司方面未能对免费食物税款进行扣押，IRS正在向雇主施压。
虽然这项税费只牵涉到数百万美元，但是一些专家认为这更关乎公平问题。他们认为，
如果一些雇主被允许提供免税的福利，这将使得其他雇主和雇员处于不利的地位，而且
这样的情况还将蔓延下去。
麦克马洪教授说：“我拿税后工资购买食物。此外，我还得为谷歌的员工的免费午餐支
纳税款。”
不过，IRS采取行动可能会激怒颇具影响力的科技行业，甚至会引起联邦政府的干预。
而且，从一个侧面来说，正是免费食物文化成就了硅谷在世界的领导者地位。
科罗拉多大学(the University of Colorado)税法教授维克托?弗莱彻(Victor
Fleischer)称，大力加强对免费食物的征税力度可能是糟糕的公共政策。他认为，计划
外的面对面交流对知识分子工作者来说有实在的好处，而免费食物正好能起到推动作用。
雇主为其高管甚至普通员工提供免费餐食已经不是新鲜事，但是硅谷已经将其提升到一
个新的高度。
一本美食杂志去年就披露了谷歌总部提供的令人羡慕的免费食物。该杂志称有些菜品甚
至是有机食材制作。
如果向谷歌征收免费食物税，按市场价每顿8美元至10美元计算，每个员工一天吃两顿
，一年就得额外缴纳4000美元至5000美元。
Facebook的总部也有两个免费餐厅，再加上一个烧烤屋、一个披萨店，一个卷饼吧和一
个汉堡屋。Facebook的Café Epic每天从早到晚提供免费的食物，其供选择的菜式包括
蟹汤和牛排。
Twitter和Zynga在旧金山的总部也免费提供一日三餐。对此，Zynga发言人不予置评。
而Twitter发言人则证实公司确实提供免费食物，但其他事宜却无法奉告。
税务专家表示，公司应该谨慎定义免费食物福利，除非他们表明薪酬或是招聘是其主要
目的，而不是出于雇主利益考虑。
雅虎在玛丽莎?梅耶尔(Marissa Mayer)去年入主后就开始供应免费餐食。在随后的投资
者会议上，梅耶尔曾经两次提高免费餐食福利是招聘中明文规定的，其意义就是使得雅
虎拥有绝佳的工作环境。
雅虎发言人在声明中表示：“公司包揽所有相关费用。”不过，该发言人拒绝告知公司
如何处理免费餐食的纳税问题。 | p**j
发帖数: 7063 | 2 左得利们联合向自己的支持者，高科技公司们开刀啊，一刀又一刀。这就是大力支持左
得利们的下场啊。
Service)
IRS
【在 l****z 的大作中提到】
: by Jackier
: 国外媒体周日发表文章，关注硅谷科技公司所提供的免费餐食是否应该缴税。目前，这
: 一话题已经在美国引起相关讨论，而美国国内税务局(The Internal Revenue Service)
: 也开始进行相关调研。
: 以下为文章概要：
: 当访客参观硅谷，他们首先注意到的往往是食物，比如说谷歌、Facebook以及其他科技
: 公司为员工开设的自助餐厅，里面供应着各种免费的美食和点心。
: 不过，这样的免费食物可能不会永远免费下去。对于如何看待这些令人垂涎欲滴的免费
: 食品，税务专家也众说纷纭。据长期跟踪这部分业务的律师透露，美国国内税务局(IRS
: )也对此事给予了关注，针对免费食物是否算员工的额外福利而需缴纳额外税款展开调
| c*****g
发帖数: 21627 | 3 英文原文，for reference:
Silicon Valley's Mouthwatering Tax Break
Debate Emerges Over Whether Daily Fringe-Benefit Meals Are Taxable; Issue Is
Now on IRS's Radar
By MARK MAREMONT
Reuters
Google has more than 120 corporate cafes world-wide serving over 50,000
meals a day. Above, a cafeteria at Google's Venice Beach campus.
When outsiders visit Silicon Valley, the first thing they often notice is
the food: Cafeterias brimming with free gourmet meals and snacks offered to
employees of Google Inc., Facebook Inc. and other technology firms.
But not all is as it seems in the buffet line. There is growing controversy
among tax experts about how to treat these coveted freebies. The Internal
Revenue Service also has been focusing on the topic, according to attorneys
who practice in the area, examining whether the free food is a fringe
benefit on which employees should pay additional tax.
Tax rules around fringe benefits are complex, but in general they categorize
meals regularly provided by an employer as a taxable perk, similar to
personal use of a company car. That leads several tax experts to wonder if
some companies providing free food may be skirting the rules.
"I clearly think it ought to be taxable income," said Martin J. McMahon, Jr.
, a tax-law professor at the University of Florida, who argues that in most
cases the meals are really part of a compensation package.
Other lawyers point to an exception that allows meals to remain untaxed if
they are served for a "noncompensatory" reason for the "convenience of the
employer." The exception generally has been applied to workers in remote
locations or in professions where reasonable lunch breaks aren't feasible.
But these lawyers argue that some technology firms could qualify, in part
because free food encourages longer work hours and is a crucial part of
Silicon Valley's collaborative culture.
The IRS often takes a dim view of such claims during routine audits of
companies, said Thomas M. Cryan, Jr., a Washington, D.C., employment-tax
attorney at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC "If they're in there auditing,
and you're not taxing the meals, they're going to challenge you on it," he
said. "I have worked on audits for large tech companies in Silicon Valley on
this exact issue," he added, but declined to name the clients.
Mr. Cryan said employers generally settle, then come up with a fair-market
value for the free meals, which they include in employees' future paycheck
stubs. In those cases, he said, companies often ensure their employees don't
lose out, by giving them extra pay to cover their larger tax bills.
An IRS spokesman declined to comment.
Google has more than 120 cafes world-wide serving over 50,000 meals a day,
according to its website, which says the aim is to foster collaboration and
healthy eating. A spokeswoman declined to comment on the tax treatment of
employee meals. Several former employees who recently left Google said the
company didn't include the value of the meals in their paystubs or in W-2
tax statements.
A Facebook spokesman said: "We believe we are compliant with the law."
Technically, any unpaid back taxes would be owed by individual employees. In
practice, tax lawyers say, the IRS tries to dun the employer for failing to
withhold taxes on the meals' collective value.
Although collectively hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes could be
involved, some experts say the more significant issue is fairness. If some
employers are allowed to offer tax-free perks, they argue, that puts other
employers and employees at a disadvantage, and if left unchecked could
spread.
"I buy my lunch with after-tax dollars," said Mr. McMahon, the University of
Florida professor. "And I have to pay taxes to support free meals for those
Google employees."
Still, an IRS crackdown could raise hackles in the influential technology
industry, and generate concerns that the federal government is interfering—
for relative pocket change—with a culture that has made Silicon Valley a
world leader.
"There are real benefits for knowledge workers in having unplanned, face to
face interaction," and free food helps facilitate that, said Victor
Fleischer, a tax-law professor at the University of Colorado, who argues
that aggressive enforcement of tax laws might be poor public policy in this
case.
Although some employers long have been providing free lunches for their
executives or even ordinary workers, Silicon Valley has taken the practice
to a new level.
A Gourmet magazine article last year raved about the "mouthwatering free
food" at Google's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. The article cited
dishes such as porcini-encrusted grass-fed beef and noted that nearly half
the produce was organic.
What would a food tax on Google's meals look like for the average employee?
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.
Facebook's headquarters in nearby Menlo Park, Calif., has two main cafes,
plus a barbecue shack, a pizza shop, a burrito bar, and a 50s-style burger
joint. Recent menu options at Facebook's Café Epic, which dishes up free
food from morning until night, included spicy she-crab soup and grilled
steak with chimichurri sauce.
Both Twitter Inc. and Zynga Inc. offer three free meals a day in their San
Francisco offices. A Zynga spokeswoman had no comment, and a Twitter
spokesman confirmed the free meals policy but otherwise didn't comment.
Tax experts say companies should be careful how they describe the free-meals
perk, lest they imply that compensation or recruiting is the real aim, not
employer convenience.
Yahoo Inc. instituted free meals last year, after new Chief Executive
Marissa Mayer took charge. On an investor conference call soon after, the
former Google executive twice mentioned the perk in the context of
recruiting, at one point saying free food was among the cultural changes
intended to make "Yahoo the absolute best place to work. And if you're that,
I think attracting talent comes reasonably easily."
A Yahoo spokeswoman said in a statement, "We cover all related expenses."
She declined to elaborate on how the company handles the tax treatment of
its free meals.
—Amir Efrati contributed to this article. | b*******n
发帖数: 8420 | 4 食品券和免费手机，房租补贴是不是也该收税？
这帮子左逼讼棍真是满口仁义道德，满腹男盗女娼 | p**j
发帖数: 7063 | 5 别说税了，连收入都不算。如果这些都算收入，美国哪有那么大的贫富差距统计数据可
以让左得利们挑拨的？
【在 b*******n 的大作中提到】
: 食品券和免费手机，房租补贴是不是也该收税？
: 这帮子左逼讼棍真是满口仁义道德，满腹男盗女娼
| l******g
发帖数: 6771 | | l******g
发帖数: 6771 | 7 没钱交，你也没辙
【在 b*******n 的大作中提到】
: 食品券和免费手机，房租补贴是不是也该收税？
: 这帮子左逼讼棍真是满口仁义道德，满腹男盗女娼
| b*****e
发帖数: 53215 | 8 那就少发粮呗
【在 l******g 的大作中提到】
: 没钱交，你也没辙
| l******g
发帖数: 6771 | 9 1994
【在 b*****e 的大作中提到】
: 那就少发粮呗
| j*******n
发帖数: 3254 | 10 They deserve that!
这帮B们支持累脖肉！希望他们丫的坚持下去，别搞叶公好龙！
【在 p**j 的大作中提到】
: 左得利们联合向自己的支持者，高科技公司们开刀啊，一刀又一刀。这就是大力支持左
: 得利们的下场啊。
:
: Service)
: IRS
| y*****n
发帖数: 11251 | 11 加州居然还允许有个人财产啊？
Service)
IRS
【在 l****z 的大作中提到】
: by Jackier
: 国外媒体周日发表文章，关注硅谷科技公司所提供的免费餐食是否应该缴税。目前，这
: 一话题已经在美国引起相关讨论，而美国国内税务局(The Internal Revenue Service)
: 也开始进行相关调研。
: 以下为文章概要：
: 当访客参观硅谷，他们首先注意到的往往是食物，比如说谷歌、Facebook以及其他科技
: 公司为员工开设的自助餐厅，里面供应着各种免费的美食和点心。
: 不过，这样的免费食物可能不会永远免费下去。对于如何看待这些令人垂涎欲滴的免费
: 食品，税务专家也众说纷纭。据长期跟踪这部分业务的律师透露，美国国内税务局(IRS
: )也对此事给予了关注，针对免费食物是否算员工的额外福利而需缴纳额外税款展开调
| x****o
发帖数: 29677 | | a**e
发帖数: 8800 | 13 说实话，看了真高兴。
Service)
IRS
【在 l****z 的大作中提到】
: by Jackier
: 国外媒体周日发表文章，关注硅谷科技公司所提供的免费餐食是否应该缴税。目前，这
: 一话题已经在美国引起相关讨论，而美国国内税务局(The Internal Revenue Service)
: 也开始进行相关调研。
: 以下为文章概要：
: 当访客参观硅谷，他们首先注意到的往往是食物，比如说谷歌、Facebook以及其他科技
: 公司为员工开设的自助餐厅，里面供应着各种免费的美食和点心。
: 不过，这样的免费食物可能不会永远免费下去。对于如何看待这些令人垂涎欲滴的免费
: 食品，税务专家也众说纷纭。据长期跟踪这部分业务的律师透露，美国国内税务局(IRS
: )也对此事给予了关注，针对免费食物是否算员工的额外福利而需缴纳额外税款展开调
| q*c
发帖数: 9453 | 14 没有大量白痴民众支持左棍是无法得势的。
【在 b*******n 的大作中提到】
: 食品券和免费手机，房租补贴是不是也该收税？
: 这帮子左逼讼棍真是满口仁义道德，满腹男盗女娼
|
|
