Pre-Tax Transit Incentives

Transportation Services is pleased to announce that UCSF is waiving the $3.39 monthly pretax transit participant fee from November 2009 through January 2011. This equates to $50 of savings through January 2011. The sooner you join, the more you save.

Our Pre-tax Transit Program allows employees to reduce their public transit and non-UCSF vanpool costs by about one-third (you save about $.30 for each dollar you spend).

The program works by allowing you to deduct up to $230 per month from your paycheck without paying payroll taxes on this income. Your annual savings can be as much as $828 (actual savings will vary based on your tax rate). Your annual savings equals more than three months of free public transit each year.

It is important to note that your pretax deduction is limited to the amount you spend on public transit or non-UCSF vanpool each month, not to exceed $230 per month.

As an added benefit, using public transit reduces pollution and helps protect the environment. According to a recent UCSF survey, 34% of all staff, faculty, and students drive alone to work or school. Based on distance travel and the type of vehicle driven, the average drive alone UCSF commuter produces nearly 6,000 lbs of carbon dioxide each year (carbon dioxide, also know as CO2, is generated as a by-product of the combustion of fossil fuels). In comparison, using public transit reduces these harmful emissions by more than 95%.

For more information about the Pretax Transit Program, please contact our Pretax Transit Coordinator, Kevin Cuevas (514-4871 or kevin.cuevas@ucsf.edu) or Campus Rideshare Coordinator, Robert Wong (476-1513 or rwong@ucsf.edu).

How does the Pre-Tax Transit program work?

1. Complete a Pre-Tax Enrollment Form and return it to UCSF Transportation Services, Box 0299, or fax it to (415) 476-0499.
   
   
   
   Transit Pretax Enrollment Form 2009
   (For UCSF employees who commute to work by Public Transit).
   Parking Pretax Enrollment Form 2009
   (For UCSF employees who commute to work by driving and do not pay for their parking fees directly through payroll deduction).
   
   
   • Pre-tax parking (non-UCSF controlled parking facilities); $230.00 maximum monthly pre-tax parking deduction
   • Pre-tax transit & pre-tax vanpool (non-UCSF controlled vanpool) $230.00 maximum combined transit & vanpool monthly pre-tax deduction
2. Employees must authorize a post-tax deduction of $3.39 a month, which is forwarded to the University's designated pre-tax processing vendor, HR Simplified, to fund the cost of the program.
   
   

   This fee is waived for pretax transit and vanpool participants from November 2009 through January 2011.

3. The funds deducted from your paycheck are credited to an account in your name with HR Simplified.  These funds are also available to you on a Transportation Pretax Debit Card.


4. You can either use the debit card to purchase transit or pay for your transit, vanpool and parking costs as you normally do.


5. If you do not use the debit card, you can claim your funds online, by fax or by U.S. Mail.  Funds must be claimed within 180.  Unlike other pre-tax programs, unused funds in this program rollover year-to-year.  Employees have 90 days to claim expenses after termination of employment with UCSF.
   
   

   For those who do not use the debit card, HR Simplified will return funds either via automatic transfer to a designated bank account or by check via the U.S. Mail.

UCSF employees can review their account status with HR Simplified by visiting their website, www.hrsimplified.com, at any time.

What are qualified transit, vanpool, and parking expenses?

Transit: Qualified transit expenses include only those costs incurred for commuting to and from work. Such expenses include any pass, token, voucher, or similar item that entitles a person to travel via any mass transit facility (such as train, bus, subway or ferry), provided by any person or public agency in the business of transporting persons for compensation or hire if such transportation is provided in a highway vehicle with a seating capacity of at least six adults (excluding the driver). Bridge tolls are NOT a qualified transit expense.

Vanpool: Qualified vanpool expenses include any highway vehicle for which the seating capacity is at least 6 adults (not including the driver), AND at least 80 percent of the mileage use is:

1. for purposes of transporting employees in connection with travel between their residences and their place of employment, and
2. on trips during which the number of employees transported for such purposes is at least 1/2 of the adult seating capacity of such vehicle (not including the driver).

Parking: Qualified parking expenses include parking at or near your work location or at a location from which you commute to work by carpool. Meters are included.

What are the savings?

Exact savings will depend on an employee's specific tax rate.

For example, if your annual transit cost is $600 ($50 per month) and your combined Federal and State tax bracket is 33.5%, you save $201 per year, minus the $41 vendor fee. This results in an annual net savings of $160 *.

* If you do not contribute to OASDI or DCP-Safe Harbor, your savings will be approximately 7.5% less than indicated above.

Important information

• HR Simplified returns your pre-tax payroll deducted dollars at the beginning or middle of each month, based on when you submit your request for reimbursement on line at hrsimplified.com.
• You may cancel at any time but if you have a credit balance with HR Simplified do not cancel. Contact UCSF Transportation Services for assistance with canceling if you have a credit balance. Refunds are not issued for unclaimed pre-tax deductions. If you terminate employment you have 90 days to claim contributions.  After 90 days, any unclaimed contributions will be forfeited.

For a list of frequently asked questions, please visit the Pre-Tax Transit Incentives FAQs section.

Contact pre-tax program vendor

Our pre-tax program vendor, HR Simplified, can facilitate sign up and answer questions via their website, www.hrsimplified.com, or by phone, 1-866-452-3700 X 1263.

Contact the UCSF Rideshare Department

Transit Incentives Index

	FAQs
	HR Simplified

FORMS & SCHEDULES
Transit Pretax Form 2009
Parking Pretax Form 2009
Reimbursement Claim Login
Reimbursement Claim Form