bonus granted as a donation

20:45 Sep 7, 2018 

Cash compensation represents all forms of cash payments made to an employee for his services, typically base salary plus bonuses and other cash incentives. The employer has to withhold tax and social security contributions on cash salary each time he pays it (the same applies to non-cash remuneration).
https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/lu/Documents/...

Employment income (category 4) includes salaries, bonuses and benefits in kind arising from employment.
https://www.ibfd.org/sites/ibfd.org/files/content/pdf/Europe...

16:02 Sep 7, 2018 

Mike, chodzi o Luksemburg :)

15:30 Sep 7, 2018 

Holiday gifts.

If your employer gives you a turkey, ham, or other item of nominal value at Christmas or other holidays, don’t include the value of the gift in your income. However, if your employer gives you cash, a gift certificate, or a similar item that you can easily exchange for cash, you include the value of that gift as extra salary or wages regardless of the amount involved.
https://www.irs.gov/publications/p525

Taxable Income to Employees

All cash or gift cards redeemable for cash are taxable to the employee, even when given as a holiday gift. Likewise, monetary prizes, including achievement awards, as well as non-monetary bonuses like vacation trips awarded for meeting sales goals, are taxable compensation – not just for income taxes, but also for FICA. Withholding applies.

On the other hand, non-cash gifts of minimal value, such as a holiday turkey, mostly are not taxable for employees if they are under $75 per year.
Gifts worth more than $75 are taxable.
Gifts awarded for length of service or safety achievement are not taxable...
https://www.lbmc.com/blog/gifts-to-employees-taxable-income-...

15:16 Sep 7, 2018 

A nice find Frank, thanks for sharing. I'm still a bit puzzled and I'm thinking whether the clause is legal and whether it might create liability for the employee. Forget the employer as they always act from strength so they should know better what they want to include in the contract.

One way or the other, it's not our job to judge the text itself here but to translate it. If in doubt or lost for words, one may choose not to translate at all or try to translate literally with all the frills however strange it may seem.

14:15 Sep 7, 2018 

Here it says that everything is taxable for the employer and the employee.
https://www.taxslayerbooks.com/kb/KnowledgebaseArticle11456....
I do not know whether calling pork chicken will fly here.

13:42 Sep 7, 2018 

Very thorough, Michał.This leaves the possibilitz that the employer can avoid paying Social Security and Medicare taxes to the federal government (around 7.6 percent) and unemployment insurance tax to the state (about 2.7% in Ohio).

12:49 Sep 7, 2018 

The IRS specifies a flat “supplemental rate” of 25% for the federal withholding part of the bonus; this is the reason why the actual bonus amount ends up being much smaller than the original amount. Many employers figure out what they want to hand their employees and “gross up” that amount; the gross amount of the bonus is higher because of the estimated taxes and the net amount of the bonus is what the employer wants the employee to take home.

Gifts to employees are limited to a $25 tax deduction no matter the value of the gift. If you are married, you and your spouse are treated as one taxpayer for the $25 deduction; if you both own separate companies and each give the same person a gift, you many only deduct $25 – not $50.
...
Cash and cash equivalent fringe benefits (gift cards, charge cards, and credit cards) are never excluded from employee’s wages as de minimis benefits, regardless of the amount. These types of gifts must be included in the employee’s wages as taxable income on their W-2.

12:47 Sep 7, 2018 

Employer

Donations and gifts from your employer draw particular attention from the IRS: The government doesn't want you claiming your end-of-year bonus as a gift rather than as taxable income. The IRS rules say to report most gifts from your employer, but there are exceptions, such as donating toward your education or care for your dependents. If the gift is small, however -- say your boss bought you pizza when you were working through lunch -- don't worry about reporting it.
https://budgeting.thenest.com/donations-received-claim-taxes...

Bonuses are supplemental wages (compensation paid in addition to the employer’s regular wages) and are therefore taxable compensation; they will show up on your books as wages on the income statement and are fully deductible. Keep in mind they must have both employer and employee taxes taken out just like a regular paycheck. The only way to keep the bonus off of the employee’s W-2 and not pay the associated payroll taxes is to make it a profit sharing bonus through your 401(k) profit sharing plan.
http://www.sbscpagroup.com/blog/taxation-and-deductibility-o...

12:31 Sep 7, 2018 

bonus granted as a donation - premia przyznana w formie darowizny/jako darowizna

Trudno wyobrazić sobie taką sytuację w Polsce. Być może w innych krajach jest to możliwe. A można poznać kraj i prawo właściwe, któremu podlega ta umowa?
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Pracodawca przekazując swojemu pracownikowi pieniądze, powinien rozważyć jaka będzie kwalifikacja takiego zdarzenia oraz jego skutki na gruncie ustaw podatkowych. Kwalifikacja podatkowa takiego zdarzenia zależeć będzie od okoliczności, formy i powodów dla których pracownik został obdarowany oraz wartości przekazanej kwoty pieniędzy.

Albo mamy stosunek pracy i wtedy premia jest przychodem ze stosunku pracy i podlega opodatkowaniu podatkiem dochodowym od osób fizycznych (PIT). Albo mamy darowiznę, która podlega opodatkowaniu podatkiem od spadków i darowizn (KC).

W przypadku gdy dochodzi do przekazania pieniędzy przez pracodawcę, bez zawierania jakiejkolwiek umowy z pracownikiem, trudno będzie udowodnić, iż istotą takiego zdarzenia było zobowiązanie się darczyńcy do bezpłatnego świadczenia na rzecz obdarowanego.
https://ksiegowosc.infor.pl/podatki/pit/pit/pracownik/321401...

11:52 Sep 7, 2018 

By callling this a donation, Amozon my avoid certain taxes such as social security, medicare, and unemployment compensation. The donee may not have the same luxury as far as the payment of taxes. Further analysis (and perhaps even the preceding one) would require a tax lawyer.