#announcements
Important info for Customer Marketers & Community members
Thread
Hi Community! Recently I have gotten some pushback from my LT team on sending out gift cards of a certain amount, due to tax compliance reasons (it being likely to be considered income, if awarded to a person) Has anyone run into this issue before or have any guidance/knowledge on the legalities behind this?
In most places I've worked, it's really on the customer to know what they are or not allowed to accept. Charitable donations and food gifts are usually accepted without issue though.
I echo what Lauren shared. I usually offer an option for donation as each customer is aware of what they are and are not allowed to accept.
I will say this is an interesting concern. I know we incentivize gift cards as SPIFFs internally, and have done so with partners in the past, and is preferred as it is not taxable income.
This is heavily industry-dependent, particularly a concern for customers in compliance-related fields or government customers. I used to work with state & local government agency clients which had a clear dollar amount limit that they can accept from a vendor (I think it's $20?) and anything else has to be reported.
@Julie Neumeister our legal team will not let us go above $25 for gift cards used as incentives for product reviews and surveys. And like @Rachel Ward we try to include a charitable donation option for all customers.