According to the link you provided:
"How are de minimis fringe benefits reported?
If the benefits qualify for exclusion, no reporting is necessary. If
they are taxable, they should be included in wages on Form W-2 and
subject to income tax withholding. If the employees are covered for
social security and Medicare, the value of the benefits are also subject
to withholding for these taxes. You may optionally report any
information in box 14 of Form W-2."
The way I understand this is that if these rewards are de minimis fringe benefits and are taxable then Swagbucks, MyPoints, etc, should be withholding taxes and providing a Form W-2, but they don't. They don't even provide a Form 1099-Misc.
I'm not an employee of these websites. I'm a member of these sites, and in fact on some of the sites I could pay them to have a preferred level of membership where I could earn points at a quicker pace.
I still can't find anything in the IRS publications that says that these rewards are taxable.
