Dive Brief:

• The Internal Revenue Service has determined in an audit that the free housing for Ohio University’s president is a taxable benefit.
• The president, Roderick McDavis, lives rent-free in a 7,000-square-foot, 2.5-story home in the middle of campus, and the federal, state, and local income taxes for the housing are expected to total $19,000. The university’s trustees have voted to cover the tax bill for McDavis.
• If the IRS determination is correct, the issue is “a ticking time bomb” for other universities and it could be an audit point for the IRS, according to a tax attorney quoted by the Columbus Dispatch.

Dive Insight:

There are three conditions for rent-free employer-supplied housing to be tax free: It must be on the employer’s premises, it must be for the employer’s convenience, and the employee must accept it as a condition of employment. It’s not known which conditions Ohio University did not meet. The Dispatch cites several Ohio examples of free housing for university presidents, including Miami University of Ohio, Bowling Green State University, and Ohio State University.