Tax-free Monthly Benefit Increases From $65 to $105
On January 1, 2006, the maximum employee benefit for tax-free transit rose from $65 to $105 per month. Commuter Check is a "Qualified Transportation Fringe Benefit" under IRS Section 132(f). The law now allows employers to give employees up to $780 per year in Commuter Checks as a pre-tax payroll deduction or a tax-free employee benefit. The increase to $100 allows employers to give employees up to $1,260 per year as a tax-free benefit and increases their annual per employee savings to about $180.
"After informing our employees about the new cap, people in the office were very excited, frankly. We think it is wonderful and only wished the cap was raised sooner," said Ruth Soderback of Trinity Capital Corporation in San Francisco. "Commuter Checks now offer even larger savings to our employees, and we don't pay taxes on it. The news is especially exciting for those who commute from the East Bay and the Peninsula. It is a huge savings for them. Commuter Check allows us to help reduce emissions and assists in saving our environment."
Commuter Check vouchers can be redeemed at hundreds of sales outlets and through ticket by mail plans. For more information contact the Alliance at Alliance@commute.org. Vouchers are accepted by all transit operators throughout the South San Francisco Bay Area and by vanpool shuttle
programs. Since 1991, approximately 80,000 commuters have received Commuter Checks
issued by the Alliance to more than 3,200 employers in the Bay Area.
