對(duì)公司免費(fèi)員工餐收稅?硅谷表示這是個(gè)“餿主意”
????多年來,許多硅谷科技公司的員工一直享用免費(fèi)員工餐。這是谷歌(Google)、Facebook和無數(shù)初創(chuàng)公司為員工提供的福利之一。然而如果美國國稅局(Internal Revenue Service)落實(shí)了收稅意向,這些免費(fèi)食品就將成為過去了。 ????《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》(Wall Street Journal )本周二報(bào)道稱,美國國稅局正準(zhǔn)備就免費(fèi)員工餐向員工征稅。在計(jì)算員工的預(yù)扣稅款時(shí),公司必須加入免費(fèi)食物的價(jià)值。 ????這一消息讓硅谷許多公司感到擔(dān)憂,因?yàn)椤肮茱柍浴钡膯T工自助餐是他們招聘時(shí)開出的基本條件之一。提供員工餐也是一種巧妙的手段,讓員工除了睡覺以外沒有理由離開辦公室,從而工作更長時(shí)間。 ????社交網(wǎng)站Tagged公司營銷副總裁史蒂夫?薩爾納承認(rèn):“提供食物是人們對(duì)大多數(shù)科技公司的正常預(yù)期,因此征稅問題引發(fā)了一些關(guān)注?!痹谶@家公司,員工每周至少會(huì)享用一次由舊金山金融區(qū)附近的餐廳烹制的免費(fèi)餐。 ????Weebly是一家讓用戶利用定制軟件工具創(chuàng)建網(wǎng)站的服務(wù)提供商,該公司的前端工程師南森?格雷迪認(rèn)為,對(duì)免費(fèi)員工餐征稅的想法“令人尷尬”。他表示,提供員工餐可以促進(jìn)社交,公司員工在用餐時(shí)可以輕松地交談。Weebly每天都提供免費(fèi)午餐,從而創(chuàng)造這種交流的機(jī)會(huì)。 ????格雷迪表示:“最開始是向免費(fèi)員工餐征稅,然后呢,是不是還要向免費(fèi)咖啡征稅?這根本沒有道理?!?/p> ????引領(lǐng)硅谷免費(fèi)自助餐潮流的谷歌公司并未立刻發(fā)表對(duì)此事的看法。在提供免費(fèi)食物方面追隨谷歌腳步的Facebook也拒絕發(fā)表評(píng)論。 ????Inkling數(shù)字出版公司首席執(zhí)行官馬特?麥金尼斯對(duì)征收食物稅的想法非常不滿。他的公司通過餐飲公司Ryan Scott 2 Go,已經(jīng)向員工提供了近4年的免費(fèi)午餐。去年,公司還聘請(qǐng)另一家餐飲公司ZeroCater提供晚餐。麥金尼斯認(rèn)為,科技業(yè)提供免費(fèi)員工餐就像是雇主給員工提供401K企業(yè)養(yǎng)老保險(xiǎn)一樣,屬于常規(guī)福利。 ????像谷歌、Facebook和蘋果(Apple)這樣的公司可以輕松地給員工加薪,抵消免費(fèi)員工餐導(dǎo)致的額外稅費(fèi)。但初創(chuàng)公司通常都不得不提供免費(fèi)洗衣、瑜伽課程和免費(fèi)食物,以此爭(zhēng)取頂級(jí)人才,這個(gè)政策會(huì)讓它們處于極為不利的情況。麥金尼斯表示,在Inkling公司,他需要將員工的年薪提高5,000美元以上,才能抵消額外食物稅對(duì)員工收入的影響。 ????麥金尼斯說:“看起來這將導(dǎo)致出人意料的可怕后果?!保ㄘ?cái)富中文網(wǎng)) ????譯者:嚴(yán)匡正 |
????For years, many tech workers in Silicon Valley have enjoyed free meals — one of several cushy perks offered the likes of Google, Facebook, and countless startups. But complimentary grub could become a thing of the past if the Internal Revenue Service has its way. ????A report on Tuesday by the Wall Street Journal revealed the IRS is pushing to tax employees for their free meals. Companies would have to add in the value of free food when calculating employee tax withholding. ????News of a potential tax on free meals has many worried in Silicon Valley, where all-you-can eat buffets are a basic recruiting tool. They’re also a subtle way to get employees to work longer hours by giving them no reason for them to leave the office except to sleep. ????“Having food available or catered in is kind of expected of most tech firms, so this is a bit of a concern,” admits Steve Sarner, VP of Marketing, at the social networking site Tagged, where employees get at least one free meal a week cooked up by nearby restaurants in San Francisco’s Financial District. ????Nathan Grady, a front-end engineer at Weebly, a service that lets users build web sites with custom software tools, called the idea of taxing free food awkward. The practice is a social catalyst that makes it easy for a company’s staff to talk to one another, he said. Weebly makes that easy enough by serving free catered lunch daily. ????“You start doing that, well then, do you start taxing free coffee as well?” Grady said. “It just doesn’t make sense.” ????Google, which popularized the free Silicon Valley buffet, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Facebook, which followed in Google’s footsteps by offering its employees free food, declined to comment. ????The idea of a food tax rankles Matt MacInnis, CEO of the digital publishing startup Inkling. His company has served its employees free lunches for nearly four years via the catering business Ryan Scott 2 Go. ZeroCater, another caterer, was hired last year to serve dinner. MacInnis argued that free meals in the tech industry are a lot like standard benefits such as employers matching 401k contributions by their workers. ????Companies like Google GOOG 1.00% , Facebook FB 2.49% , and Apple AAPL 0.78% can easily afford to pay employees more to cover any additional taxes for free meals, he said. Therefore, their recruiting wouldn’t suffer. But start-ups, which feel compelled to offer free laundry, yoga classes, and free food to compete for top talent, would be put at a big disadvantage, he said. In Inkling’s case, MacInnis says he would need to increase employee’s annual salaries by more than $5,000 to cover any extra food taxes. ????“It seems there would be pretty terrible, unintended consequences,” MacInnis said. |
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