Apple has announced that by the end of the month it will give its 18,000 full-time U.S. employees a free 8-gigabyte iPhone (retail price: $599). Apple has not said whether it will also pick up the cost of the wireless plan (two-year contracts start at $59.99). The tax angle? Apple will have to include the $599 on the employees’ W-2s as taxable compensation, and the company will have to pay employment taxes on the amount as well. (Hat Tip: TaxGirl.) Press coverage: Reuters, San Jose Mercury News & ThinkSecret. For a related story, see Tax Consequences of Microsoft’s "Gift" of Laptops to Bloggers and TaxGirl’s coverage.
