Employee Fringe Benefits (Portfolio 394)

Description

Bloomberg Tax Portfolio, Employee Fringe Benefits, No. 394, discusses the substantive rules pertaining to various fringe benefits provided by an employer to employees, including the statutory framework for exclusion created by the 1984 Tax Reform Act and subsequent legislative changes and additions.

This Portfolio discusses in detail the various categories of fringe benefits specifically addressed under §132 — working condition fringes, no-additional cost services, qualified employee discounts, de minimis fringe benefits, qualified transportation fringes, qualified moving expense reimbursements, qualified retirement planning services, and qualified military base realignment and closure fringe payments. It also considers the tax status of certain benefits addressed by specific statutory provisions such as §127 educational assistance programs and §129 dependent care assistance programs. Supplemental unemployment benefit trusts under §501(c)(17) also are covered. The Portfolio discusses the organizational and operational requirements for plans or programs providing these benefits, including the rules on withholding and employment taxes, as well as the “separate line of business” rules of §414(r).

Table of Contents

I. Introduction and Overview
II. Statutory Rules for Incidental Benefits
III. Other Statutory Fringe Benefit Exemptions
IV. Taxable Benefits
V. Miscellaneous Considerations
VI.Separate Line of Business for Employee Benefit Plan Purposes