Mark Zuckerberg Will Pay Gay Facebookers’ Health Care Tax Penalty

Not only has Facebook made creator Mark Zuckerberg so wealthy he’s promised to join other billionaires in donating half of his wealth, but the site is doing well enough that it’s opted to join Silicon Valley companies like Google, Cisco, and Kimpton Hotels in paying the federal government’s discriminatory tax penalty on gay workers whose partners receive health care benefits from Facebook. On average the tax bill is a little over one thousand dollars annually. I’d love to say this is just another way for Zuckerberg to improve his post-The Social Network reputation, but the announcement is really just an example of Facebook catching up to the tech competition, where recruiting the best talent now requires more than free Coke Zero in the lounge.