Matt Coniglio & Trish Neely, CFCI

Trish Neely, CFCI

The fiscal cliff deal signed by President Obama on January 2nd restored parity to Commuter, Transit and Qualified Parking expense reimbursements. The provision is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2012, meaning that employers may reimburse employees on a tax-free basis for expenses exceeding $125 per month that were incurred January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2012, up to the new limit of $240.

Trish Neely, CFCI

From February 2009 until the end of 2011, ARRA (American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act) had increased the exclusion amount for commuter transit benefits to be on par with parking benefits.

This year ECFC and its members have worked diligently at the federal level to bring parity back.

Benefits Alert 2010-12

President Barack Obama has signed into law the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010. This act is a two year temporary extension of tax relief passed through both houses of Congress last week.

The Act includes an extension through 2012 of the Bush tax reductions enacted in 2001 and 2003, and importantly for tax favored accounts, extends the parity in transportation fringe benefits another year.

Benefits Alert 2010-10

Effective February 17, 2009, Section 1151 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) temporarily amended IRS Code Section 132(f) and increased the monthly exclusion amount for commuter transit benefits and transit passes from $120 to $230. The exclusion amount for parking benefits was already $230 so the 2009 increase brought parity to the different transportation fringes. (See Benefits Alert 2009-01 for a full discussion of ARRA’s other provisions.)