Wonder

Research Outline

Prepared for Deepak A. | Delivered January 22, 2020

Decreasing Employee Salaries via Benefits

Goals

To find information on the typical practices that tech companies use to financially decrease employee salary via benefits such as company lunches, snacks, travel stipends, etc. The purpose of research is to identify ways to decrease the salary of employees by paying for more with the company so that the company is taxed less.

Early Findings

The IRS Publication 15-B, Employer's Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits provides guidelines on the fringe benefits that are not taxable. 
Common employee fringe benefits that are not taxable include accident & health benefits, achievement awards, adoption assistance, athletic facilities, de minimis (minimal) benefits, dependent care assistance, educational assistance, employee discounts, employee stock options, employer-provided cell phone, group-term life insurance coverage, health savings accounts (HSA), lodging on your business premises, meals, no-additional-cost services, retirement planning services, qualified transportation (commuting) benefits, tuition reduction, and working condition benefits. 
From the above IRS exclusion list, it can be concluded that qualifying company lunches, snacks, travel stipends, among other benefits are exempted from tax by the IRS. 
Resources that highlight the employee benefits that are not taxable are plenty in the public domain. Articles that discuss this are listed below:
Employee Fringe Benefits That are Tax Free.
Employer Guide: What Employee Compensation Is Taxable?
United States: Taxable And Non‐Taxable Fringe Benefits.
Top 9 Tax-Free Employee Benefits You Can Offer at Limited Cost.
The listed resources contain more or less the same non-taxable benefits that have been identified above from the IRS Publication 15-B.