Is room and board taxable?

If he is required to take the room, and "board" is limited in value, it is non-taxable for income tax purposes. It may still be taxable for FICA taxes or other employment taxes.

-- Arthur Rubin, AFSP, CRTP, Brea, CA

Yes, supervising the dorm is part of his duties; so he is required to live there. Board is 3 meals a day; it has some value.

It has some value, but dorm meals are not extravagant. In your son's case neither the lodging nor the meals should be taxable.

Section 119 of the Internal Revenue Code and its regulations contain the law on excluding lodging and meals.

Lodging requires passing 3 tests.

1. Must be a requirement of the job. For your son, if the only way he could get the job was agreeing to live in employer provided housing, he passes.
2. The living quarters must be on the employer's business premises. For your son, living on campus passes that test.
3. It must be for the convenience of the employer not the employee. A good way to explain this is: if the employer provided any option such as live on campus or off campus and if you choose off-campus, here is 00 month for rent...... you fail the test even if you elect to live on campus.

It sounds as though the job your son took probably passes those 3 tests although you have not provided any evidence to that effect.

Meals: To exclude meals they have to be provided on the employer premises (he passes if the meals are provided on campus) and they must be provided for the employer's convenience. In this instance, this is defined as being for a "substantial noncompensatory business reason." It doesn't matter what this means because if the employer requires as a condition of employment that you son live on campus, by legal definition in the regs, the meals are for that purpose and can be excluded from income.

Thanks all. That will save a couple thousand; nice to get a break on taxes for a change.