The Internal Revenue Service has issued correction procedures for employers who have paid benefits in excess of $130 per month in 2015 and wish to make corrections on their fourth quarter Form 941 in response to recent legislation.
Section 105 of the Act amended Section 132(f)(2) of the Tax Code to create parity, for periods after Dec. 31, 2014, between the transit benefit exclusion for the aggregate of transportation in a commuter highway vehicle and any transit pass, and the exclusion for qualified parking. As a result of this amendment, the monthly transit benefit exclusion for the aggregate of transportation in a commuter highway vehicle and any transit pass increased from $130 per participating employee to $250 per participating employee for the period from Jan. 1, 2015, through Dec. 31, 2015.
For 2016, the monthly exclusion under both Section 132(f)(2)(A) (the aggregate of transportation in a commuter highway vehicle and any transit pass) and Section 132(f)(2)(B) (qualified parking) is $255.
To address employers’ questions regarding the retroactive application of the increased exclusion for 2015 and to reduce filing and reporting burdens, the IRS is clarifying how the increase applies for 2015 and providing a special administrative procedure for employers to use in filing Form 941, the employer’s quarterly federal tax return, for the fourth quarter of 2015 to reflect changes in the excludable amount for transit benefits provided in all quarters of 2015 and in filing W-2 wage and tax statement forms.
