The GOP Congress is looking at including employer-provided benefits like free transportation, food and gyms as taxable income as a way to pay for tax cuts.

KEY POINTS

House Republicans are considering treating work benefits such as employer-provided transportation, free food and on-site gyms as a new source of taxable income to help pay for President Trump’s tax cuts.

These tax proposals are still in the early stages and other aspects of Trump’s tax promises would help workers, such as tax breaks on tips, overtime pay and Social Security benefits.

The concept of taxing employee perks has been debated before in Congress and never made it far, but with the size of the deficit and Trump wanting trillions of dollars in expiring and new tax cuts, some budget pay-fors will need to be found, and this one would dip into workers’ pockets.

  • nocturne@sopuli.xyzOP
    2·
    14 hours ago

    If enacted, workers would likely have to pay income tax on the fair market value of the fringe benefits they are getting from their employer, said Jeff Martin, tax principal at Grant Thornton’s Washington National Tax Office. This would make these benefits less valuable to employees when taxes are factored in.