3.9 Working Condition Fringe Benefits

An employer-provided benefit that would be deductible by you if you paid for it yourself (19.3) is a tax-free working condition fringe benefit. These benefits include:

Company car or plane.

The value of a company car or plane is tax free to the extent that you use it for business; see 3.8 for more on company cars.

Employer-provided cell phone.

The cost of an employer-provided cell phone is a tax-free working condition benefit if your employer has substantial business reasons for giving you the phone. The phone qualifies if the employer needs to reach you at all times for work-related emergencies or you need to call clients when away from the office or outside of normal business hours. On the other hand, the value of the phone is taxable if it is a goodwill gesture or intended as additional compensation; these are not considered substantial business reasons.

Employer-paid business subscriptions or reimbursed membership dues in professional associations.

Product testing.

This is a limited exclusion for employees who test and evaluate company manufactured goods away from company premises.

Employer-provided education assistance.

Employer-paid undergraduate and graduate courses may be a tax-free working condition fringe benefit if the courses maintain or improve your job skills but are not needed to meet your employer’s minimum educational requirements and do not prepare you for a new profession.

Job-placement assistance.

According to the IRS, job placement services are tax free so long as they are geared to helping you find a job in the same line of work and you do not have an option to take cash instead of the benefits. The employer must also have a business purpose for providing such assistance, such as maintaining employee morale or promoting a positive business image.

For tax-free treatment, there is no nondiscrimination requirement; different types of job placement assistance may be offered, or no assistance at all, in the case of discharged employees with readily transferable skills. Tax-free benefits include the value of counseling on interviewing skills and resume preparation. Executives may be given secretarial support and the use of a private office during the job search.

Job placement benefits that you receive as part of a severance pay arrangement are taxable to the extent that you could have elected to receive cash. If your severance benefits are reduced because you get job placement assistance, you are taxed on the difference between the reduced and unreduced severance amounts. Taxable benefits, if any, can be offset with a deduction only if you itemize and are able to claim the amount as a miscellaneous deduction subject to the 2% of adjusted gross income floor (19.3).