Sunbliss Cafe — Restaurant Section 125 Case Study
A restaurant / cafe operator. The same Section 125 mechanic that delivered $250,000+/year for the 132-employee, 69-location Houston restaurant group applies — $681.60 net employer savings per W-2 employee per year, plus a structural ~$72/paycheck raise for every participating employee at zero out-of-pocket cost.
The structure that produced this result
Restaurant operators run thin-margin, high-headcount businesses where every dollar of payroll-tax reduction compounds. On a 25-employee single-location cafe, the FICA math returns $17,040/year in net employer savings. Multi-location operators see the same math scale linearly across each location. Restaurant Workers' Comp rates run in the 3–5% band — modest by industry standards, but still meaningful at scale.
The recruiting and retention angle is often the more important second-order effect for restaurant operators. The wellness benefits package (24/7 telemedicine, free generic medications, dental savings, mental health counseling for the whole household) is genuinely valuable to a workforce that often lacks easy access to those benefits — and the structural ~$72/paycheck raise reinforces it.
We don't publish specific dollar figures where the operator hasn't disclosed them publicly. The 15-minute analysis call returns the precise figure for any specific cafe or restaurant operation.
See your number — pre-filled to Restaurant / Cafe.
The calculator returns your exact net employer FICA savings + a Workers' Comp reduction estimate. Same math, your headcount. Verified by CBIZ + HitesmanLaw.
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Minimum 10 W-2 employees · $25K+ salary · ACA-compliant health coverage required
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Verified by the Best in the Country
Skepticism is the right response. We don't ask you to take our word for it — we bring institutional proof that convinced CPAs, CFOs, attorneys, and insurance brokers to enroll their own companies.
Darcy L. Hitesman, J.D.
35+ years as an Employee Benefits attorney specializing in IRC Section 125, ERISA, HIPAA, and the ACA. Her May 5, 2025 opinion letter concludes: “In this firm's opinion, the Program described satisfies applicable IRS requirements.”
She specifically reviewed the IRS Chief Counsel Advice memoranda on "double-dip" arrangements — the exact schemes the IRS has flagged — and concluded this program is built differently and compliantly.
CBIZ Advisors LLC
CBIZ independently reviewed the program against IRC §§ 125, 105, and 106, plus ERISA, ACA, and COBRA requirements. Their August 22, 2025 letter concludes: “If operated per its provisions, the Program appears to satisfy the requirements of ERISA, the ACA, and COBRA as well.”
This review was commissioned by Affinity Hospice's CEO before enrolling his nationwide organization — and the CFO (himself a CPA) shared the letter publicly in his testimonial.
Direct From the U.S. Government
Section 125 has been in the Internal Revenue Code since 1978. Congress wrote it there specifically to encourage employers to fund preventive healthcare for American workers. This is not a loophole — it is the precise, intended use of a 47-year-old federal law, grounded in IRS Revenue Ruling 69-154, the specific published ruling supporting the benefit payment structure.
→ Verify on IRS.gov — Section 125 Cafeteria Plans ↗Find Out Your Number.
Free. No Pitch. Just Math.
Verified: CBIZ Advisors LLC (Aug 2025) · HitesmanLaw P.A. (May 2025)
$500K legal protection per enrolled employer · IRS Section 125 · Federal law since 1978