Can I get my employer to pay my rent?

Question

I am moving closer to the clients office on a new contract. I signed a lease recently but am thinking if I can have my employer pay the rent directly. Please advice if the employer will have any tax issues to do so.

Answer 1

That would be considered part of your salary. It would be subject to withholding of tax and would be deductible to the employer as wages paid to you and would be taxable income to you.

The only exception to this would be if you lived on your employer's property as part of a requirement of the job, such as an apartment complex manager or on-call maintenance staff. In that case the fair market rent would NOT be income to you. The employer would not get any deduction, however there would be no income for the unit so that's where the employer's tax savings would come from.

Answer 2

really depends, your employer can rent an apartment for you and have you live at the place, but really depends if you're important enough to them