Tickets

[Unregistered]

My employer gave me tickets to a baseball game. Is this taxable income to me? Will it be reported on my W-2?

[Bees Knees]

Tickets

My employer gave me tickets to a baseball game. Is this taxable income to me? Will it be reported on my W-2?

The value of the ticket would qualify as a tax-free employee fringe benefit. It would not be reported on your W-2, and you would not have to report it anywhere on your tax return.

Regulation Section 1.132-6(e) gives examples of what type of fringe benefits like this are excluded from employee income, and what type of fringe benefits would have to be included in an employee’s income. It reads:

(1) BENEFITS EXCLUDABLE FROM INCOME. Examples of de minimis fringe benefits are occasional typing of personal letters by a company secretary; occasional personal use of an employer's copying machine, provided that the employer exercises sufficient control and imposes significant restrictions on the personal use of the machine so that at least 85 percent of the use of the machine is for business purposes; occasional cocktail parties, group meals, or picnics for employees and their guests; traditional birthday or holiday gifts of property (not cash) with a low fair market value; occasional theater or sporting event tickets; coffee, doughnuts, and soft drinks; local telephone calls; and flowers, fruit, books, or similar property provided to employees under special circumstances (e.g., on account of illness, outstanding performance, or family crisis).

(2) BENEFITS NOT EXCLUDABLE AS DE MINIMIS FRINGES. Examples of fringe benefits that are not excludable from gross income as de minimis fringes are: season tickets to sporting or theatrical events; the commuting use of an employer-provided automobile or other vehicle more than one day a month; membership in a private country club or athletic facility, regardless of the frequency with which the employee uses the facility; employer-provided group-term life insurance on the life of the spouse or child of an employee; and use of employer-owned or leased facilities (such as an apartment, hunting lodge, boat, etc.) for a weekend. Some amount of the value of certain of these fringe benefits may be excluded from income under other statutory provisions, such as the exclusion for working condition fringes. See Section 1.132-5.