I completely agree there are advantages to the employee treatment, and also that there's no real reason to prohibit it as it only helps people to pay the appropriate tax. I don't know why they forbid it, but they do. So the answers to your questions are 1) is it okay to do this? Answer: No, it's not okay. 2) Will anything bad happen if you do it? Answer: I know people have done this for years without ever having a problem. I even know of one person who got caught doing it in an audit and told the auditor 'who cares it comes out the same in the end' and the auditor was like 'fine, good point' and let it go unchanged. So, it's kind of like speeding. Can you probably get away with it? Yes. Is it allowed? No.
