"Non-monetary compensation" tax reportable?

[squirrel]

I dont participate in industry dinners (pharm reps etc) but was invited to a dinner by our hospital CEO and CMO specifically to discuss ED issues.  It is a business meeting that sounds like is being paid by the hospital with several members of our group to attend, but am being told the hospital is planning on filing names on a "Non-monetary compensation form"

Not sure about this but suspect the hospital will use as a write off?  Will this technically be reportable as income to me?

Thanks to anyone who can clarify or have any insight into this.

[jfoxcpacfp]

I think you need more information. Before they report anything as compensation to you, they will request that you fill out a W9 form providing them with your name, address and (most important) Social Security Number. That sounds like a very crass thing to do at a nice dinner. And, without more information, I don't know why they would need to report any income to attendees to be able to w/o the expense of the dinner/meeting. It sounds like a legitimate business expense for them (so far) to me. Possibly this is merely a rumor that got twisted out of shape?

[Modulus]

I work for one of the major pharmacy chains currently and we get "reward points" from our supervisors for good services / recognition.  These can be turned into gift cards etc, but then they charge the value on our W-2 as an "employee reward".  Basically, you have to pay taxes on the value of the reward.  Some of my friends in other industries are at companies that give select employees tickets to baseball games as recognition - they also get taxed on the value of the tickets.

 

So perhaps you go to this dinner, it will pop up as a $75 employee reward on your W-2, and you pay an extra $25-35 in taxes?

[squirrel]

Johanna,  that was the exact words used by hospital admin in an email chain and why they wanted a list of attendees before the meeting.  Our group is contracted at the hospital and therefore don't receive tax documents from the hospital either.

[VagabondMD]

squirrel wrote:

I dont participate in industry dinners (pharm reps etc) but was invited to a dinner by our hospital CEO and CMO specifically to discuss ED issues.  It is a business meeting that sounds like is being paid by the hospital with several members of our group to attend, but am being told the hospital is planning on filing names on a “Non-monetary compensation form”

Not sure about this but suspect the hospital will use as a write off?  Will this technically be reportable as income to me?

Thanks to anyone who can clarify or have any insight into this.

Click to expand...

I would respond that you would like to meet and discuss the ED issues but prefer to do so in a format or venue where you will not be compensated...like at Starbuck's at 6:30AM, for example (and you will buy the coffee).

I believe that for legitimate work meetings with a contracted (non-employed) group, there can be food served without risking a Stark violation. Additionally, the hospital has a dollar amount, per physician, that can be used for any (non-business) purpose (golf outing, holiday party, etc.). In 2015, that limit was $392.

Here's a link to an article on the topic: http://www.hallrender.com/resources/article/2067/