Excerpt: In this month's column, we begin to identify various fringe benefits the IRS has included for its three-year audit initiative. As with other audit initiatives, the precise focus of the audits will evolve and some of the targeted issues will increase or decrease in importance. Given the timing of the audits and the importance the IRS places on voluntary compliance, as well as the availability of various relief provisions applicable to fringe benefits and payroll taxes, employers should identify the fringe benefits that they offer as potential targets, beginning with the obvious -- those that arise from a specific statutory exemption.

MORE >>