1601 - Third Party Pre-Tax Parking Policy (Historical View)

** Effective: 11/18/2016 2:17:05 PM - 11/23/2016 3:32:34 PM **

Status: Active

Change Notes

Added PMLs.

Category

Third Party Pre-Tax Parking

Audience List

Synopsis

This policy

Introduction

The Third Party Pre-Tax Parking Reimbursement Account Program (Program) is administered by the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR).

The Program is a voluntary payroll deduction program that allows participants to deduct a specific dollar amount for work-related parking fees from their pay warrant prior to tax deductions; this reduces the participant’s taxable income.

The funds taken out of the participant’s pay warrant go into a pre-tax parking reimbursement account that the participant will claim against.  To receive payments from the account, participants must submit a reimbursement claim form (listed under Forms below) along with the required parking receipts.

Statement

State employees who do not have access to state controlled/owned (Department of General Services [DGS], Department of Transportation [CalTrans], etc.) parking spaces or a department-sponsored parking program are eligible to enroll in the Program.

Monthly Deduction Amount

For the 2016 tax year, participants can deduct their actual cost of parking, up to $255 per month.

Application

Eligibility

The following active state employees who meet the eligibility criteria can participate in the Program:

Eligibility criteria:

The state limits the number of pre-tax parking deductions to one (1).  Certain situations, such as an employee having appointments with more than one department in different locations which requires a parking space in those locations, may be an exception to this policy.

Participant eligibility begins the first month following the first payroll deduction for the Program (IRC requirement).

Enrollment

To enroll, participants must complete the CalHR 682 - Reimbursable Account Enrollment Form and submit it to their personnel office.

Changes to Enrollment

Cancellations

Claims Process

The process for submitting reimbursement claims is as follows:

Claims may be submitted as soon parking fees are paid; there is no need to wait until the end of each month.  SCO typically mails out the pre-tax parking reimbursement warrants once a month towards the end of the month; direct deposit is also available.

Refunds

CalHR reviews refund requests on a case-by-case basis. Refund requests are not permitted for current participants in the program or for participants who have a pending reimbursement claim on file.

There are certain circumstances where a participant may be eligible for a refund. Examples are: a participant becomes disabled or there is a delay in processing a cancellation request.

Approved refunds are issued by check or direct deposit. Refunds are not included in the participant’s regular paycheck. Since the initial deduction is done pre-tax, SCO is required to withhold taxes for approved refunds.

Forfeiture Information

Parking Lot Transfers

The Program differs from DGS or department-sponsored parking programs in the way that they are coded and processed. Participants must cancel from the Program when they transfer from a private parking lot to a DGS or department-sponsored lot. Without the appropriate cancellation requests submitted, a duplicate pre-tax parking deduction will take place; this increases the likelihood that the participant will forfeit unclaimed pre-tax parking funds.

Authorities

Resources

FAQs

Forms

PML

Web Pages

Authorized By

Ralph Cobb
Chief (Acting), Benefits Division

Contact Person

Ray Asbell
Program Manager, , Benefits Division
Phone: 916-324-0526
Fax: 916-324-3213
Email: ray.asbell@calhr.ca.gov

Superseded Policies

Not Applicable.