Fox D M, Schaffer D C
State University of New York (Stony Brook).
J Health Polit Policy Law. 1987 Winter;12(4):609-64. doi: 10.1215/03616878-12-4-609.
Since the passage of Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code in 1978, cafeteria plans have offered employees a choice of tax-free fringe benefits. Although these plans have been popular with employers and employees, Treasury Department officials and many tax lawyers soon came to regard Section 125 as a mistake. The Treasury has tried to reclaim through regulation the revenue and the fundamental principles of tax law it had asked Congress to give away in 1978. This paper is a history of Section 125 that emphasizes its relationship to health policy. On the basis of interviews and printed primary sources, the paper argues that Treasury officials made a less than rigorous assessment of the impact of cafeteria plans because they were preoccupied with a larger agenda of making tax-free benefits more equitable. Moreover, they saw no reason to collaborate with the health policy community to plan this agenda; they saw themselves as implementing a social policy already in the Internal Revenue Code.
自1978年《国内税收法典》第125条通过以来，自助餐厅式福利计划为员工提供了免税附加福利的选择。尽管这些计划受到雇主和员工的欢迎，但财政部官员和许多税务律师很快就认为第125条是个错误。财政部试图通过监管收回它在1978年请求国会放弃的税收收入和税法基本原则。本文是第125条的历史，强调其与健康政策的关系。基于访谈和印刷的一手资料，本文认为财政部官员对自助餐厅式福利计划的影响评估不够严谨，因为他们专注于使免税福利更公平这一更大的议程。此外，他们认为没有理由与健康政策界合作来规划这一议程；他们认为自己是在实施《国内税收法典》中已有的一项社会政策。
