Moving from Seattle to Sunnyvale. I am trying to select the benefits package for relocation. Any suggestion on the best way to do so? I know that if I take the lump sum payment, I need to pay income taxes on it, but while talking to the relocation specialist, she said "all" benefits (even if I don't take lump sum) is taxed. She said, "All of the relocation benefits are considered as taxable income to you and will be reported to the IRS as additional income. Google then provides tax assistance on all the benefits to pay down a portion (not fully) of the tax liability you will" What does it mean that "Google provides tax assistance on a portion"? Has anybody used relocation service for joining Google, did you have to pay any taxes on the relocation package (not lump sum)? If yes, how much? I am specifically curious if anybody used the "Home Sale Reimbursement" benefit where they reimburse the closing cost when you sell the house. Did you have to pay income tax on the reimbursed amount?
i used googles relocation service. the tax assistance is a true up or gross up. it happens behind the scenes, so i didn’t need to pay income tax on the relocation benefits
I am not answering ur question with a direct answer, but Relocation expenses are tax deductible as long as ur relocation is more than 70 miles.
This changed in 2018 with new tax laws aka Trump tax plan.
What r the exact changes for 2018 on relocation. I did a search and could pinpoint on the exact changes for 2018 relocation deductions
No package would be enough. You’re loosing about 25-30% TC when working at Google in CA comparing to WA. Why the move? Didn’t get a position in Seattle/Kirkland?
If you have info on original question, post an answer . Else ask a separate question yourself.
I took the relocation package and ended up with huge tax bill. Will ask about the tax assistance to the specialist now. But haven’t received anything automatically
Can you share which benefits options you took? Did u get the house sale reimbursement? Was the tax mostly on the reimbursement part or evenly spread?
I took benefits like lease breakage cost , road trip cost , temp stay , brokerage ... only a small fraction was tax free ( $1720 out of around $15,000) everything else was reported as taxable income so uniformly taxed
How much is the relocation package as lump sum? Is it close to $30k like other companies?
They gave me $30,500 as lump sum. I'm moving from midwest.
Everything is taxable income. Simple example. Your relocation benefit is worth $100. They gross up and pay $35 to IRS as tax and use $100 for services to you. At the end of the year full $135 will be considered as taxable income for you. So you will have account for paying tax on $135. Difference is that $35 are already witheld on your behalf. So your total outstanding tax bill can be lower. What's your lump sum total?
They gave me the option of $30,500 lump sum or 61 points worth relocation benefits (for ex: movers for 6000lbs is 11pts worth) . I'm not sure how the tax works if I do the lump sum. Should I consider 40% tax rate? I'm in midwest right now and TC is 100k. I'm planning to join Google first week of December. I'm concerned that AGI will push me into the next tax bracket if I take the lump sum.
@nbeJ14 are you joining as L4?
Is L5 relocation budget greater than L4 ? Can I expect home closing cost as L5 ?
It’s called a true-up payment, they cover the tax liability. Paypal covered 100% of mine, but I didn’t get the closing cost reimbursement. Generally all of that counts as taxable income.