Heads up! The IRS Transportation (Commuting) Benefits are set to roll back to pre-2009 levels of $125 per month (adjusted for inflation) for public transit passes and vanpool expenses beginning January 1, 2012. The maximum was temporarily raised to $230 per month under The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 and extended under the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 to equal the monthly qualified commuter parking limit.
Qualified commuter parking expenses will increase up to $240 per month and qualified bicycle commuting reimbursements will remain unchanged at $20 per month in the new year.
By offering pre-tax commute benefits to employees, employers can save on paying FICA payroll taxes and employees can take advantage of saving on federal withholding and FICA taxes on the amount deducted. Find out more from these third-party commute benefit administrators: Benefit Resource Inc., Clipper Direct, Edenred USA (Commuter Check), TranBen, TransitCenter (TransitChek), and WageWorks.
Image credit: 401K (Flickr)
