Taking a Strange Turn on Employee Transit Benefits
Transit benefits can be a great employer-provided perk to employees, whether provided for mass transit or parking, and whether paid directly to transit and parking companies or to employees. As a result of recent federal legislation known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“Act”), however, employers may no longer deduct such transportation fringe benefits as their own deductible business expenses. Moreover, nonprofit employers that provide this employer-provided perk must report and pay tax on the value provided as taxable “unrelated business income.” On the other hand, employees may still contribute their own earned wages through a pre-tax salary reduction program. Confusing? Here are the key legal details and related employment adjustments that may be warranted in light of the Act’s passage, for both taxable and tax-exempt employers.