Rules from the Internal Revenue Service regarding incentives, recognition and safety programs can seem frustratingly complex – even scary.

Incentive Federation Inc. is hoping to help change that.

The federation, which promotes, protects and researches the optimal use of incentives, rewards and related promotions in business, has undertaken an initiative that aims to simplify understanding tax regulations related to incentives and the like.

The project, titled “Tax Considerations for Incentives, Recognition and Safety Programs,” is directed specifically toward clients of companies that provide such programs. It’s a compilation of numerous industry papers and presentations that have been consolidated into more digestible PowerPoint presentations and infographics. Rewards often have tax consequences for either the recipient or the sponsoring company.

“The user-friendly PowerPoint summary and infographic presentation tools are available online at incentivefederation.org and are ideal to provide to any client that may find the IRS rules and regulations confusing or intimidating,” IFI said in a statement.

A webinar explaining tax particulars will be announced in February. IFI members may invite their clients to attend.

IFI has researched and published information about IRS regulations and incentives for years. Detailed articles and research presentations are linked to the primary PowerPoint document to provide employer personnel with additional support information if needed.

“These new simplified documents cover the tax treatment of employee service awards, safety incentive programs and travel incentive programs among others,” IFI explained about its new project. “The IRS tax code provides some exemptions to the taxability of recognition and awards programs, and employers need to be aware of how various employee recognition awards are viewed by the IRS.”