Consulting Firm's Travel Policies And Perks
Jun 25, 2015, 4:04 pm
#136
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,399
This stuff is all automated in the US. Routine audits pick up unreported deposits into bank accounts and it then becomes the taxpayer's burden to prove the deduction. People get knicked for $1,000 and less in unreported income all the time. This is a significant amount by those standards.
If it goes unreported, it's also subject to interest and penalties which more than make up for the cost of chasing it down.
If it goes unreported, it's also subject to interest and penalties which more than make up for the cost of chasing it down.
Jun 25, 2015, 6:41 pm
#137
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Bangkok or San Francisco
Programs: United 1k, Marriott Lifetime PE, Former DL Gold, Former SQ Solitaire, HH Gold
Posts: 11,886
Yeah! The company I worked for was very strict. They paid for business class. If you booked first, you paid the difference. If you booked coach the company thanked you for your generosity and kept the difference. Tax reasons. If they let you keep the money it is no longer a travel expense for them so they have to classify it differently. And it's reportable as income for you.
Jun 25, 2015, 6:45 pm
#138
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,399
Yeah! The company I worked for was very strict. They paid for business class. If you booked first, you paid the difference. If you booked coach the company thanked you for your generosity and kept the difference. Tax reasons. If they let you keep the money it is no longer a travel expense for them so they have to classify it differently. And it's reportable as income for you.
Jun 25, 2015, 6:48 pm
#139
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
It's why many businesses have stopped paying out "in kind" bonuses such as trips and watches. Those things are all income, but as you haven't received cash, that gold watch may mean laying out the taxes on it as if it had been paid in cash.