20 CFR 404.1058 – Special situations
(a) Payments for service not in course of employer’s trade or business (nonbusiness work) and payments to certain home workers—(1) The $100 standard. We do not include as wages cash pay of less than $100 paid to you in a calendar year by an employer for services not in the course of the employer’s trade or business (nonbusiness work) and for services as a home worker as described in § 404.1008(d).
(2) How evaluation is made. (i) We apply the $100 standard for a calendar year based on when the payments are made to you rather than when the pay is earned. To count toward the $100 amount, payment must be in cash (including checks or other forms of money). The $100 standard applies to each employer when you perform services not in the course of the employer’s trade or business or as a homeworker for two or more employers.
(ii) If the employer has two or more employees, the standard applies to each employee. In applying the $100 standard, we disregard cash payments for any other type of services you perform for the employer.
(iii) The noncash payments an employer pays you for services not in the course of the employer’s trade or business are not wages even if the employer has paid you cash wages of $100 or more in the calendar year for services of that type.
(iv) Amounts paid to you as a home worker as described in § 404.1008(d) are not wages unless you are paid $100 or more in cash in a calendar year. If you meet this test, any noncash payments you receive for your services also count as wages.
(v) Amounts paid to you as a home worker in a common-law employment relationship (see § 404.1007) count as wages regardless of amount or whether paid in cash or kind.
(3) Definitions. The term services not in the course of the employer’s trade or business (also called nonbusiness work) means services that do not promote or advance the trade or business of the employer. Services performed for a corporation do not come within this definition. A homeworker is described in § 404.1008(c).
(b) Nonprofit, income-tax exempt organizations—(1) The $100 standard. We do not include as wages payments of less than $100 in a calendar year made by an employer that is an organization exempt from income tax under section 501 of the Code.
(2) How evaluation is made. We apply the $100 standard for a calendar year based on when the payments are made to you rather than when the pay is earned. To figure the $100 amount, both cash and noncash payments are counted. The $100 standard applies to each employer where you render services for two or more nonprofit, income-tax exempt organizations during a calendar year. The $100 standard also applies to each of you where a nonprofit, income-tax exempt organization has two or more employees. In applying the standard, the tax-exempt status of the employer and not the nature or place of your services is controlling.
(c) Payments to members of the uniformed services—(1) The standard. We include as the wages of a member of the uniformed services—
(i) Basic pay, as explained in paragraph (c)(3) of this section, for performing the services described in paragraph (a)(1) of § 404.1019 of this subpart; or
(ii) Compensation, as explained in paragraph (c)(4) of this section, for performing the services described in paragraph (a)(2) of § 404.1019 of this subpart.
(2) Wages deemed paid. These following provisions apply to members of the uniformed services who perform services as described in paragraph (a)(1) of § 404.1019 of this subpart.
(i) After 1977, a member of the uniformed services is considered to have been paid additional wages of $100 for each $300 of basic pay paid to the individual in a calendar year. The amount of additional wages deemed paid cannot be more than $1,200 for any calendar year. No wages may be deemed paid for units of basic pay which are less than $300.
(ii) Before 1978, a member of the uniformed services is considered to have been paid additional wages of $300 for each calendar quarter after 1956 in which the individual is paid any amount of basic pay.
(3) Basic pay. Basic pay means the monthly pay prescribed by 37 U.S.C. § 203 (Pay and Allowances for the Uniformed Services) for a member of the uniformed services on active duty or on active duty for training.
(4) Compensation. “Compensation” refers to the remuneration received for services as a member of a uniformed service, based on regulations issued by the Secretary concerned (as defined in 37 U.S.C. § 101(5) under 37 U.S.C. § 206(a), where such member is not entitled to the basic pay (as defined by paragraph (3) of this section).
(d) Payments to volunteers and volunteer leaders in the Peace Corps. If you are a volunteer or volunteer leader under the provisions of the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. § 2501ff), payments for your services are wages with the exception of amounts in excess of the amounts certified as payable under section 5(c) or 6(1) of the Peace Corps Act. Amounts certified under those sections are considered to have been paid to the individual at the time the service is performed. See § 404.1018(e) on coverage of these services.
(e) Moving expenses. We do not include as wages amounts paid to, or on behalf of, an employee for moving expenses if it is reasonable to believe that a similar deduction is allowable under section 217 of the Code.
(f) Payments by employer to survivor or estate of former employee. We do not include as wages any payment by an employer to a survivor or the estate of a former employee after the calendar year in which the employee died.
(g) Payments to an employee who is entitled to disability insurance benefits. We do not include as wages any payments made by an employer to an employee if at the time such payment is made—
(1) The employee is entitled to disability insurance benefits under the Act;
(2) The employee’s entitlement to such benefits began before the calendar year in which the employer’s payment is made; and
(3) The employee performed no work for the employer in the period in which the payments were paid by such employer (regardless of whether the employee worked in the period the payments were earned).
(h) Tips. (1) We include as wages tips received by an employee if—
(i) The tips are paid in cash; and
(ii) The tips amount to $20 or more and are received in the course of employment by an employee in a calendar month.
(2) Cash tips include checks and other forms of money. Tips received in a form other than cash, such as passes, tickets, or other goods are not wages. If an employee works for more than one employer in a calendar month, we apply the $20 tip test to work done for each employer.
(i) Payments by employer under group legal services plan. We do not include as wages any contribution, payment, or service, provided by an employer under a qualified group legal services plan which is excludable from the gross income of an employee, or the employee’s spouse or dependents, under section 120 of the Code.