The IRS recently issued long-awaited regulations that permit certain not-away-from-home lodging expenses to be deducted by workers if they are not reimbursed by their employer. Alternatively, if paid for by the employer, the expense can be treated as a tax-free working condition fringe benefit (WCFB) or tax-free accountable-plan reimbursement.
Thanks to prior IRS guidance, the value of an employer-provided WCFB is excluded from the recipient employee’s gross income for federal income and employment tax purposes. A WCFB is defined as any property or service provided to an employee to the extent that, if the employee paid for the property or service, it would be deductible by the employee as an unreimbursed employee business expense. Employer-paid lodging for an employee who is out of town on the employer’s business counts as a tax-free WCFB.
Prior regulations provide that the cost of an individual’s lodging that is not incurred while traveling away from home on business is generally a personal expense and is therefore generally not deductible by the individual. An individual is not considered away from home unless he or she is away from home overnight, or at least long enough to require rest or sleep.
The new regulations stipulate that an individual’s local lodging expenses can be deducted by the individual as business expenses if the applicable facts and circumstances dictate that such treatment is appropriate. In turn, expenses that would qualify for deductions if paid for by an employee will qualify as a tax-free WCFB if paid by the employer, or if advanced or reimbursed by the employer under an accountable plan. However, local lodging expenses will not qualify for the aforementioned tax-favored treatment if the lodging is lavish or extravagant, or if it is primarily to provide the individual with a social or personal benefit.
Safe Harbor Rule. Under the new regulations, local lodging expenses are automatically treated as ordinary and necessary business expenses if all of the following conditions are met: (1) the lodging is necessary for the individual to participate fully in or be available for a bona fide business meeting, conference, training activity, or other business function; (2) the lodging is for a period that does not exceed five calendar days and does not occur more frequently than once per calendar quarter; (3) in the case of an employee, the employer requires the employee to remain at the activity or function overnight; and (4) the lodging is not lavish or extravagant under the circumstances and does not provide any significant element of personal pleasure, recreation, or benefit.
Example: Tax-favored treatment allowed for employees.
Distant Corporation puts on periodic employee training sessions at a hotel near its main office. Distant requires all attending employees, including employees from the local area, to remain at the hotel overnight for the bona fide business purpose of maximizing the effectiveness of the training sessions.
If Distant directly pays the lodging costs for attending employees, the costs qualify as tax-free WCFBs for the attending employees, including those who live in the local area, and Distant can deduct the costs as business expenses. If Distant reimburses attending employees for the lodging costs under an accountable plan, the reimbursements are tax-free to the employees, including those who live in the local area, and Distant can deduct the reimbursements as business expenses.