SSR 70-10: SECTION 209(h). -- WAGES -- CASH REMUNERATION FOR AGRICULTURAL LABOR -- COUPON BOOKS ISSUED BY EMPLOYER
20 CFR 404.1027(i)
SSR 70-10
- Coupon books valued at $40 each, which can be redeemed only in goods and commodities at a general store operated by the employer, given each month to an employee by his employer for the first $80 worth of agricultural services rendered by the employee in the month, held, not cash remuneration for agricultural labor within the meaning of section 209(h) of the Social Security Act and corresponding regulations.
G performed agricultural services for a company engaged in an agricultural enterprise and each month received the first $80 of his remuneration in the form of two coupon books valued by the employer at $40 each. G receives in cash each month only the amount of remuneration which exceeds $80. He must accept the coupon books, which are valid only for purchases of goods and commodities from the general store operated by the employer.
A question has been raised whether the two coupon books given to G by his employer represent cash remuneration for agricultural labor within the meaning of section 209(h) of the Social Security Act and section 404.1027(i)), Regulations No. 4 of the Social Security Administration, (20 CFR 404.1027(i)), and thus would be creditable as wages for social security purposes.
Section 209(h) of the Social Security Act provides, as pertinent here, that the term "wages" means remuneration paid after 1950 for employment but does not include remuneration paid in any medium other than cash for agricultural labor. Section 404.1027 of Regulations No. 4, provides, as applicable here:
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(i) Payments Other Than in Cash for Certain Types of Services. -- (1) The
term "wages" does not include remuneration paid in any medium other than
cash:
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- (iii) For agricultural labor
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Cash remuneration includes checks or other monetary media of exchange
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- Remuneration paid in any medium other than cash, such as lodging, food, clothing, car tokens, transportation passes, farm products, or other goods or commodities, for services of the prescribed character does not constitute wages.
In this case, G had no choice but to accept the coupon books toward payment for his services in agricultural labor. The coupon books were redeemable only for goods and commodities from the general store operated by G's employer. The books were not redeemable for cash. Therefore the books, having limited use as media of exchange, lack monetary characteristics. Instead they represent payment in kind, for the goods from the employer's store, to the extent of the value of the books used.[1]
Accordingly, it is held, that the coupon books, given to G by his employer toward payment for his services in agricultural labor, redeemable only for goods and commodities in the employer's store, do not constitute cash remuneration for agricultural labor within the meaning of section 209(h) of the Social Security Act and regulations promulgated thereunder, and are therefore not creditable as wages for social security purposes.
[1] See in this regard SSR 70-11, C.B. 1970, p.23 for discussion of United States Savings Bonds, Series E, as cash remuneration for agricultural labor.