17 June 2013

03 June 2013

Yet Another Reason to Dump the IRS

From a congratulatory email to me upon reaching an employment milestone:

In the United States, service awards are considered tax exempt and therefore can only be used for tangible awards. They cannot be redeemed for certain gift cards  or travel and tickets due to IRS restrictions.…
So if I win one of our contests, or get an award for performance, I can get a VISA® or Walmart* gift card (which is taxable), but as a reward for years of hard work, I get a golf bag†. And I don't even play golf!

Thanks, IRS!

For example.