In recent years, tax gross-ups, along with many other executive perquisites, have fallen out of favor with investors and been on the decline. However, the practice persists for certain members of the C-suite.

Nearly a third of S&P 100 companies awarded gross-ups to at least one executive last year, while over a fifth of companies picked up portions of multiple executives’ income tax bills, according to an Agenda analysis of data from public company intelligence provider MyLogIQ. Eighteen percent of NEOs in the S&P 100 received a tax gross-up as part of their 2020 compensation. Gross-ups at companies in the S&P 100 were awarded for a range of imputed tax expenses, including expatriate taxes, relocation benefits, aircraft and security perks, and business dining expenses, to name a few.

The largest gross-up went to Joe Rainey, president of Eastern Hemisphere at Halliburton. Rainey received just over $3.5 million in tax equalization costs associated with an expatriate assignment, according to a company filing.