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In 2017, my wife's employer paid for our rent as per her contract. The employer added this to her monthly salary. She received a 1099 at the end of the year. I considered this money income when calculating our tax burden on TurboTax. Was I correct?

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  • Generally, yes.
    – Rupert Morrish
    Commented Apr 30, 2018 at 21:56
  • Thanks Rupert. In what situations would it not be considered income?
    – D. Vyd
    Commented May 1, 2018 at 7:19
  • I don't know specifically about the USA, which is why I didn't post this as an answer.
    – Rupert Morrish
    Commented May 1, 2018 at 20:52
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    Delegations. I send your wife on a 2 month visit to a customer. I pay her appartment. Not income, cost. Stuff like that would not count as income.
    – TomTom
    Commented Jun 1, 2018 at 9:38

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Generally yes. Income is not measured as "money" but as "value of benefits". So, avoiding money is not going to ease your tax burden.

There are exceptions (depending on jurisdiction). For example, if I send an employee to another city, then for a certain time (which may be long) the housing THERE may NOT count as income - it is basically an expense of my business on an extended delegation, but the employee does not get a benefit. I pay him housing, he pays housing at home he can not use. Obviously there are limits to this.

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    Another exception is if OP's wife is a "licensed, commissioned, or ordained minister who performs ministerial services as an employee", in which case she might not have to count the value of housing toward her taxable income for income tax purposes. irs.gov/taxtopics/tc417
    – PersonX
    Commented Jun 1, 2018 at 14:18

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