* The housing is provided on the property owned by the business or employer. * The housing is provided for the convenience of the employer. * The employee must accept housing as a condition of employment.
Intended more for folks like on-call firefighters living in a firehouse or a park ranger who is required to live in a cabin in a park or nanny's staying with their family. I could see some situations amazon might have an argument to make - they could probably do micro-units or shared housing / dorm style housing for workers and save massively on labor costs especially in high cost urban areas where folks would otherwise never be able to afford a place.
Most likely, it'd be considered a "fringe benefit" and the employee would still have W2 / income taxes and withholdings on it. How municipalities would tax the property value depends entirely on how they choose to tax on-site housing (as it is technically both commercial and residential space).
Maintenance on the buildings would likely be partially deductible as operating expenses, no different than any other building operated by a landlord or business.