Patrick Van Eecke, co-head of the global privacy practice DLA Piper said: “The advantage of safe harbour was that it functioned as a kind of ‘one stop shop’ allowing for the export of personal data to the US, whoever in Europe it came from, without the need to ask for consent, or to enter into bilateral agreements, over and over again.” Can data still be transferred to the US? It allowed companies such as Facebook to self-certify that they would protect EU citizens’ data when transferred and stored within US data centres. The safe harbour agreement that was made between the EC and the US government essentially promised to protect EU citizens’ data if transferred by American companies to the US. I assume the smaller and less frequent the amounts the more likely these are to be thought of as taxable fringes rather than wages but I am trying to determine where the line should be drawn, especially for amounts that are fairly predictable and easily tracked and accounted for.EU privacy law forbids the movement of its citizens’ data outside of the EU, unless it is transferred to a location which is deemed to have “adequate” privacy protections in line with those of the EU. Similarly, what about large cash employee awards or bonuses as opposed to small achievement type awards. For example, would a car "allowance" paid under a non-accountable plan be considered a taxable fringe benefit or should that be more properly thought of as general wages. The IRS materials go on to note that "these are any taxable "extras" such as the personal use of a company car, educational assistance, etc."Ĭan anybody point me in the right direction as to where the IRS draws the line with respect to what is a taxable extra for such purposes. Several references including the IRS training materials cited by E as in ERISA note that both cash and non-cash fringe benefits are excluded under the fringe benefit exclusion. On the other hand, I assume short term disability benefits provided under a self-funded short term disability or sick pay program which is regarded as a payroll practice rather than ERISA welfare benefit plan might not be considered a "welfare benefit"? Does that sound correct?Īnother related question. More to the point, how should short term disability benefits be viewed in plans that exclude "welfare benefits" under the safe harbor alternative definition? I notice that several common reference charts comparing the various definitions of compensation note that short term disability payments will be excluded from compensation under this provision only if they constitute a "welfare benefit." However, I have found very little explaining when short term disability benefits constitute a "welfare benefit." I assume that short term disability benefits will be considered "welfare benefits" if they are provided under an insured short term disability plan or program such that they are considered to be provided under an ERISA employee welfare benefit plan. 1.414(s)-1c(3) provides a safe harbor alternative definition of compensation excluding certain fringe benefits and other special compensation items, including "welfare benefits." Is the term "welfare benefits" for such purposes defined anywhere? If not, is it generally interpreted to mean benefits provided under an employee welfare benefit plan?
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