Workers seek flexibility in orders to return to the office
Despite technological advancements and preferences for flexibility in American workers, employers are seeking a return to the office.
Scripps News
Corrections and explanation: An earlier version of this story misunderstood Stanford Economics professor Nicholas Bloom. The story has been revised.
If your company offers free office snacks and meals, the perks could be at risk due to President Donald Trump’s new tax laws.
The tax credits offered to employers for take-out meals and company-provided cafeteria meals will expire at the end of this year, thanks to the so-called “Big Beautiful Building” provisions that became law at the beginning of July. Office snacks can also have an impact.
That means some employers who offer food and snacks to bring employees back to the office can choose to remove the perks.
What is the tax credit for free office meals?
Some of the food deductions offered in the office will be reduced by the 2017 tax law, with the rest being eliminated by December 31st this year.
According to the joint committee of Congress’s Tax Committee, the repeal of the deduction is expected to raise $32 billion in additional taxes to employers by 2034.
There are several questions and debates about whether office snacks fall into the category of exclusion deductions, according to Christa Bierma, vice-chairman of the U.S. CPAS Institute’s Employee Benefits Committee.
Free office food is a perk for some companies
Free office snacks and meals were staples in many US offices, including high-tech companies and accounting firms. According to the 2025 Human Resources Association Employee Benefit Survey, 44% of the companies surveyed offered free snacks and drinks, 78% provided free coffee, and 10% said they subsidized free or company subsidies in their on-site cafeterias.
Many companies see the benefits of offering free food and snacks to shape a sense of community in the workplace, said James Atkinson, Vice President of Thought Leadership at the Human Resources Association.
“What you think of in terms of retaining or attracting employees isn’t that it’s makeup or broken profits, but it’s a kind of perk that employees look forward to,” Atkinson told USA Today.
Additionally, businesses that have cafeterias on-site or provide meals to employees can ensure workers do not have to leave the office, he said. It could encourage workers to stay at work. This can be positive or negative if it encourages a burnout work culture, Atkinson said.
Does elimination of deduction remove free food?
Nicholas Bloom, a Stanford University economics professor who studies remote work, doesn’t believe businesses will eliminate free food perks with tax credit losses.
“Companies continue to provide this as interactions with colleagues are the number one factor that brings people back to their offices,” Bloom told USA Today. “The companies that cut food and drink are shortsighted. It’s like the old British who say, ‘Pennywise pounds are stupid.’ Essentially, employees aren’t connected, saving nickel and dimes by cutting food budgets, and losing by thousands of dollars in business revenue. ”
Atkinson and Biama agree.
“I don’t think most companies will take that out of the deduction right away, especially if they feel that it’s actually affecting employee morale and employee involvement,” Atkinson said.
However, the elimination of tax credits could potentially create a sense of economic uncertainty for some businesses and ease the perks, Atkinson and Biama said.
“I think they’ll continue to provide benefits even if they can’t deduct that,” Biama said, but “they’ll think about how generous the spread of the buffet they want is.”
(This story has been updated to fix the error.)
Betty Lin-Fisher is a consumer reporter for USA Today. Contact her at blinfisher @usatoday.com or follow her on X, Facebook, or Instagram @Blinfisher, @Blinfisher.bsky.social.. Sign up for our free daily money newsletter. This includes Friday’s Consumer News.
