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A New Look At The Section 119 Meals And Lodging Exclusion, Steven Luby

West Virginia Law Review

One of the most problematic areas of income tax law has been the excludability of various employee fringe benefits from taxable income. This article examines the appropriate tax treatment of one type of fringe benefit-meals furnished by an employer to his employee. Prior to 1954 the excludability of the value of meals furnished by an employer was dependent upon whether the factual circumstances of the case satisfied a "convenience of the employer" rule developed by administrative rulings and case law. In 1954 Congress attempted to end the confusion surrounding the excludability of meals furnished by an employer by enacting section …