Do company-provided meals need to be claimed on my taxes?
It looks like the resource to deciding these is here  Concerning the meals, the law seems a bit vague to me. You can exclude the value of meals you furnish to an employee from the   employee's wages if they meet the following tests. This exclusion does not apply if you allow your employee to choose to   receive additional pay instead of meals. If the whole point of google providing meals is to benefit Google as such people will not leave the googleplex when to obtain meals elsewhere causing increased productivity for Google, then this is covered as a business expense.  (Even if it wasn't, Google would have to notify you that it was providing you a non-expensable benefit, i.e. compensation, by giving you a 1099 at the end of the year). Concerning the other benefits, the only way I could see those items not being taxable benefits is if one of the two applies. "I believe there is an overtime meal allowance. That is, if an employee works ""overtime"" (defined as 7:00 p.m. for a 9:00 start, or ten-plus hours after the shift starts), the company can provide a non-taxable meal free of charge, or give a ""reasonable"" allowance ($15-$20) that must be spent outside on a meal (no drinks). This is because the employee is working extra hours at the convenience of the company. Lunches can be subsidized. That is the company can provide lunch on company premises, and must charge employees the direct costs of the food and preparing it, but can forego charging for ""overhead"" (e.g. the implied rent for the lunch facility) and profit." In many cases yes.  In the case of an employer handing employees a credit card to use, that is clearly income if the card is used for something other than a business expense. Generally speaking, if you're receiving something with a significant value without strings attached, it is likely taxable. Google no doubt has an army of tax attorneys, so perhaps they are able to exploit loopholes of some sort.
my tax liabilities in India on my stock profit in US  You would need to pay tax on the profit in India as well after you have become resident Indian. India and US have a double tax avoidance treaty. Hence if you have already paid tax in US, you can claim benefit and pay balance if any. For example if you US tax liability is 20 USD and Indian liability is USD 30, you just need to pay 10 USD. If the Indian tax liability is USD 20 or less you don't need to pay anything.  what if in future I transfer all my US money to India?  The funds you have earned in US while you were Non-Resident is tax free in India. You can bring it back any-time within a period of 7 years. Finding that perfect assisted living facility may be difficult and confusing to choose. There are few factors one should look for before signing the dotted line. We asked summerfield.com owner, Rebecca Landau, to tell us, what makes her facility a sought after place for elderly looking for a Utah retirement.   What is assisted living? This is the most popular solution for elderly people who cannot live independently. It is place where residents will not have to cook their own meals or cut the grass. Our Summerfield Retirement facility offers less expensive residential care while providing a broad range of assistance.   What are the services you provide? Residents get assistance with their bathing, dressing, eating and any other needs. All three meals are cooked from freshly sourced ingredients taking into consideration the dietary needs of each resident. With 24 hour call-light assistance and customized care plan, residents remain socially active while maintaining their independence. Even though the Timpanogos Hospital is right across the street we have specialized doctors, dentists, and podiatrists making regular scheduled visits.  How is the quality of life at an assisted living community? The quality of life can well be seen on the faces of our residents. Every resident has made friends with each other and socially interacts with like-minded people. Daily exercise and a variety of different activities keep them active and happy. Scenic outings, bingo, musical performances, an onsite library, and gym ensure there is never a dull moment at Summerfield.   The best part about our UTAH retirement home is our ability to adapt to and provide support as needed by each resident. An elderly person with less mobility will require a different set of support than someone having trouble remembering details. So instead of losing all their independence and privacy, we provide and adaptable environment.   Information about our community Contact:  Phone: (801) 434 – 7581 Address: 911 North 800 West Orem, Utah 84057 Send questions and inquiries through our contact form:  http://summerfieldinfo.com/contact/ "The decision whether this test is or is not met seems to be highly dependent on the specific situation of the employer and the employee.  I think that you won't find a lot of general references meeting your needs. There is such a thing as a ""private ruling letter,"" where individuals provide specific information about their situation and request the IRS to rule in advance on how the situation falls with respect to the tax law.  I don't know a lot about that process or what you need to do to qualify to get a private ruling.  I do know that anonymized versions of at least some of the rulings are published.  You might look for such rulings that are close to your situation. I did a quick search and found two that are somewhat related: As regards your situation, my (non-expert) understanding is that you will not pass in this case unless either (a) the employer specifies that you must live on the West Coast or you'll be fired, (b) the employer would refuse to provide space for you if you moved to Boston (or another company location), or (c) you can show that you could not possibly do your job out of Boston.  For (c), that might mean, for example, you need to make visits to client locations in SF on short-notice to meet business requirements.  If you are only physically needed in SF occasionally and with ""reasonable"" notice, I don't think you could make it under (c), although if the employer doesn't want to pay travel costs, then you might still make it under (a) in this case." Legally, do I have anything to worry about from having an incorrectly filed W-4? What you did wasn't criminal. When you submitted the form it was correct. Unfortunately as your situation changed you didn't adjust the form, that mistake does have consequences. Is there anything within my rights I can do to get the company to take   responsibility for their role in this situation, or is it basically my   fault? It is basically your fault. The company needs a w-4 for each employee. They will use that W-4 for every paycheck until the government changes the regulation, or your employment ends, or you submit a new form. Topic 753 - Form W-4 – Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate If an employee qualifies, he or she can also use Form W-4 (PDF) to   tell you not to deduct any federal income tax from his or her wages.   To qualify for this exempt status, the employee must have had no tax   liability for the previous year and must expect to have no tax   liability for the current year. However, if the employee can be   claimed as a dependent on a parent's or another person's tax return,   additional limitations may apply; refer to the instructions for Form   W-4. A Form W-4 claiming exemption from withholding is valid for   only the calendar year in which it is filed with the employer. To   continue to be exempt from withholding in the next year, an employee   must give you a new Form W-4 claiming exempt status by February 15 of   that year. If the employee does not give you a new Form W-4,   withhold tax as if he or she is single, with no withholding   allowances. However, if you have an earlier Form W-4 (not claiming   exempt status) for this employee that is valid, withhold as you did   before. (I highlighted the key part) Because you were claiming exempt they should have required you to update that form each year. In your case that may not have applied because of the timing of the events. When do you submit a new form? Anytime your situation changes. Sometimes the change is done to adjust withholding to modify the amount of a refund. Other times failure to update the form can lead to bigger complication: when your marital status changes, or the number of dependents changes. In these situations you could have a significant amount of under-withheld, which could lead to a fine later on. As a side note this is even more true for the state version of a W-4. Having a whole years worth of income tax withholding done for the wrong state will at a minimum require you to file in multiple states, it could also result in a big surprise if the forgotten state has higher tax rate. Will my (now former) employee be responsible for paying their portion of the taxes that were not withheld during the 9 months I was   full-time, tax Exempt? For federal and state income taxes they are just a conduit. They take the money from your paycheck, and periodically send it to the IRS and the state capital. Unless you could show that the pay stubs said taxes were being withheld, but the w-2 said otherwise; they have no role in judging the appropriateness of your W-4 with one exception. Finally, and I am not too hopeful on this one, but is there anything I   can do to ease this tax burden? I understand that the IRS is owed no   matter what. You have one way it might workout. For many taxpayers who have a large increase in pay from one year to the next, they can take advantage of a safe-harbor in the tax law. If they had withheld as much money in 2015 as they paid in 2014, they have reached the safe-harbor. They avoid the penalty for under withholding. Note that 2014 number is not what you paid on tax day or what was refunded, but all your income taxes for the entire year. Because in your case your taxes for the year 2014 were ZERO, that might mean that you automatically reach the safe-harbor for 2015. That makes sense because one of the key requirements of claiming exempt is that you had no liability the year before. It won't save you from paying what you owe but it can help avoid a penalty. Lessons "Disclaimer: This should go without saying, but this answer is definitely an opinion. (I'm pretty sure my current accountant would agree with this answer, and I'm also pretty sure that one of my past accountants would disagree.) When I started my own small business over 10 years ago I asked this very same question for pretty much every purchase I made that would be used by both the business and me personally. I was young(er) and naive then and I just assumed everything was deductible until my accountant could prove otherwise. At some point you need to come up with some rules of thumb to help make sense of it, or else you'll drive yourself and your accountant bonkers. Here is one of the rules I like to use in this scenario: If you never would have made the purchase for personal use, and if you   must purchase it for business use, and if using   it for personal use does not increase the expense to the business, it   can be fully deducted by the business even if you sometimes use it personally too. Here are some example implementations of this rule: Note about partial expenses: I didn't mention partial deductions above because I don't feel it applies when the criteria of my ""rule of thumb"" is met. Note that the IRS states: Personal versus Business Expenses Generally, you cannot deduct personal, living, or family expenses. However, if you have an expense for something that is used partly for business and partly for personal purposes, divide the total cost between the business and personal parts. You can deduct the business part. At first read that makes it sound like some of my examples above would need to be split into partial calulations, however, I think the key distinction is that you would never have made the purchase for personal use, and that the cost to the business does not increase because of allowing personal use. Partial deductions come into play when you have a shared car, or office, or something where the business cost is increased due to shared use. In general, I try to avoid anything that would be a partial expense, though I do allow my business to reimburse me for mileage when I lend it my personal car for business use." My company did not have income of $1000 and have a $500 expense Why not? Your company received $1000 from you, and based on its agreement with the other company - transferred out half of it. How does it not translate to having $1000 income and $500 expense? When I run a report I want to see that my business has $500 of income not $1000 with a $500 expense You can write in your reports whatever you want, but if you want to see the real picture, then that is exactly what you should be expecting. That said, transferring money from yourself to your company is generally not considered income. You can have it booked as owner's equity, or a owner's loan if the company is required to repay. Unless you're paying to your company for some services provided or assets transferred, that is. "According to this post on TurboTax forums, you could deduct it as an ""Unreimbursed Employee"" expense. This would seem consistent with the IRS Guidelines on such deductions: An expense is ordinary if it is common and accepted in your trade, business, or profession. An expense is necessary if it is appropriate and helpful to your business. An expense does not have to be required to be considered necessary. Office rent is not listed explicitly among the examples of deductible unreimbursed employee expenses, but this doesn't mean it's not allowed.  Of course you should check with a tax professional if you want to be sure." The company match is not earnings. My company deposits 5% of my income into my 401(k) and it appears nowhere except on the paperwork for the 401(k).  To be clear, it doesn't appear on any paystub or W2.