The person who first said "there's no such thing as a free lunch" may have been right.

The Internal Revenue Service is taking a hard look at taxing free food for employees, which currently is tax-exempt, according to Bloomberg, Forbes and other sources.

Employees are not required to pay income or payroll taxes on meals if they are provided "for the convenience of the employer." Under current law, businesses qualify if employees can't "otherwise eat proper meals within a reasonable period of time." Another provision of the U.S. tax code lets companies set up cafeterias to serve employees and then deduct the full cost of the meals, not just the 50 percent limit that typically applies to business meals.

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