Connie graduated from UC Berkeley with degrees in media studies and business administration, which help inform her perspective on and coverage of industry trends, as well as the competitive e-commerce landscape at large. She has represented the team at CES and moderated panels on media business and the future of retail. You can see more of her testing process and other behind-the-scenes of being a product journalist on her Instagram Connie joined Insider Reviews as an early member in 2017 and has also reported on products and services in the style, tech, fitness, travel, and e-learning spaces, with a particular interest and expertise in emerging startups. When she's not changing duvet covers or washing towels twice a day for articles, she loves talking about and trying the newest snacks, drinks, and food gifts. She combined rigorous testing methods, conversations with professionals, and active knowledge of the home and kitchen space to help readers get the most out of their money.

While at Insider, she specialized in all the things that enhance life at home, from the most comfortable bed sheets and fluffy pillows to cool online wine clubs and bartender-approved cocktail shakers. This link goes over the IRS rules on de minimis benefits.Īccountants are Christmas party animals – check out our last year’s celebration.Connie Chen is a former senior reporter on the Insider Reviews team, where she led coverage of home textiles, home entertaining, and food and drink. But if you invite customers as well, the deductible amount goes down. You can invite their families, too, if you want. You have to distribute them on a large scale (you get to deduct the whole cost of what it takes to produce them), and they have to be under $4 apiece.Īpparently even the Tax Grinch likes a party! Holiday parties are completely deductible, but they have to be for the entire staff. That could be pens with your name on them, or a calendar. Apparently you have to wait until the tax audit to find out.Īnd what about swag? If you give out small gifts branded with your company logo, those are completely tax deductible. How much can you lay out? The IRS says the cost has to be “reasonable,” but doesn’t say what that is. If you want to send a gift is to an entire company, you can spend more. You can spend more than $25 if you want, but only the first $25 per gift is deductible.

The IRS doesn’t include incidental costs, like engraving or gift wrapping, in the $25 limit, though. That is, they’re deductible as long as they cost $25 or less. The de minimis rules apply to individual client gifts as well. The IRS considers gift cards the same as cash, so they, too, get taxed. Employees also have to claim the cash as income on their tax returns. If you give out cash, though, it has to be taxed as wages, even if it’s less than $25. De minimis gifts are fully tax-deductible for the employer, and employees don’t have to pay tax on them, either. Things like a holiday turkey, candy, gift baskets or something similar are considered de minimis if the value is $25 or less. De minimis means essentially too small or trivial to be counted. You can give your employees gifts valued at $25 or less – what IRS calls de minimis gifts.

Good for you – it’s a giving time of year! And the good news is, if you follow certain Internal Revenue Service rules, those gifts can be tax-deductible.Īfter all, what would a holiday be without IRS rules? Employee and Client Christmas Gifts Can Be DeductibleĪs a company owner, you may be thinking of giving out employee and client Christmas gifts.

Employee holiday gift ideas 2018