Transcript HSA Training - Benefit Strategies

Transportation Reimbursement Incentive Plan
(TRIP)
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The program is a pretax benefit that allows for pretax payroll
deductions for parking and transit expenses.
The IRS dictates the maximum allowable dollar amounts that may
be deducted on a pretax basis. In 2014 the pretax maximum for
parking is $250 and for transit expenses is $130.
All benefit eligible employees are eligible to enroll in the TRIP
benefit for either Transit or Parking plans, or both if the
employee will incur applicable expenses for the commute to the
workplace.
Benefit Strategies manages the TRIP accounts for Young &
Rubicam Group. Enrollment is completed online using the
Benefit Strategies website www.benstrat.com
A Benefit Strategies FlexExpress Debit Card will be issued to all
enrollees and mailed to the address on file.
This is a rolling benefit. Balances will roll from year to year as
long as you are an active, benefits eligible Employee with Young
& Rubicam Group.
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Enrollment & changes to current elections are completed online on the
Benefit Strategies website, www.benstrat.com.
In the lower right corner of the home page click on the Young & Rubicam
Group icon. Once you have clicked on the icon the TRIP page will open.
http://www.benstrat.com/clientlink_yrb.php
On the TRIP page you will find yellow tabs to click on for the election &
change forms for parking and transit. After clicking on the yellow tab, the
enrollment form will appear on your screen. Complete all fields of the form.
If electing or changing both Parking and Transit deductions, BOTH forms
must be completed and submitted.
The TRIP Election Change Deadline Calendar is located on the TRIP page on
the Benefit Strategies website. This is a resource for viewing when the
completed changes and election forms must be submitted to have the
deductions taken from payroll and usable for expenses.
http://www.benstrat.com/downloads/yrg_trip_calendar.pdf
Once Benefit Strategies receives your completed TRIP enrollment & change
form, the enrollment is processed. An account will be created for you and a
Flex Express Debit Card will be mailed to your address. The use of the debit
card is mandatory when making transit purchases. Parking expenses can be
paid for with the debit card or the participant may pay out of pocket and file
a claim for reimbursement.
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Benefit Strategies will mail the FlexExpress Visa Debit Cards
to your home address. Per IRS guidelines, it is mandatory
that the debit card be used for all qualifying transit
purchases. When making parking purchases, however you will
have the option to use the debit card or pay out of pocket
and file a claim.
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Once you have clicked on the Young & Rubicam Group Icon in
the lower right hand corner of the Home page of the Benefit
Strategies website the TRIP page will be on your screen.
Notice the Three Yellow Tabs for The Login Page and Election
and Change Forms.
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Understanding how the TRIP accounts are funded is key
to knowing when your account will have funds available
to make a purchase.
Enrollment & change forms must be completed by the
last day of the month for the following months payroll
deductions.
Funds are deducted and deposited into the Benefit
Strategies account on the 15th and 28th of any given
month. By the 28th of any given month the funds will be
available for use to purchase the next month’s expense.
Example – A form is submitted on May 6, 2014.
Deductions would not begin until June 2014 payroll.
The funds would be deposited in the Benefit Strategies
account on June 15th and 28th. All funds would be
available on June 28, 2014 to use to purchase July 2014
transit or parking expenses.
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Per the IRS definition, Qualified Transit expenses include:
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The cost of any pass
Token
Fare card
Voucher
Or other items that entitles the employee to use mass transit for the
purpose of traveling to or from his/her place of work
Transit may be via a mass transportation system or a private mass
transit enterprise in the business of transporting people in a
commuter highway vehicle. A commuter highway vehicle is defined
as a vehicle that has a capacity of six or more adults and at least 80%
of the vehicle’s mileage must be from transporting employees to and
from their place of work.
Buses, Commuter Rail Service, Subway, Water Ferry are a few
examples of qualified transportation provider’s.
Taxi Service and Zip Cars are not qualifying expenses.
Per the IRS guidelines, the debit card must be used to purchase
transit expenses.
The 2014 IRS maximum pretax allowance is $130 per month. Young
& Rubicam Group also allows for post tax deductions to supplement
this cost. The total cost of the fare greater than $130 will be
available on the debit card, post tax, for the qualifying purchase.
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Qualified Parking expenses include parking a vehicle in a
facility that is near the employee’s workplace or parking at a
location from where the employee commutes to work like a
train station or carpool lot.
Per the IRS guidelines, parking expenses can be purchased
using the debit card or by paying out of pocket and
submitting a reimbursement request to Benefit Strategies.
This is different from the guidelines for Transit use of funds.
The 2014 IRS maximum is $250 pre tax per month. Young &
Rubicam Group also allows for post tax deductions to
supplement this cost of the monthly parking expenses. The
total cost of the fare greater than $250 will be available on
the debit card, post tax, for the qualifying purchase.
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Reimbursement for parking expenses are NOT limited to the use
of the Debit Card.
If you incur an expense for parking and you pay out of pocket,
you may file a claim for reimbursement. You may do this by
submitting a claim form to Benefit Strategies directly by mail,
fax, or email. You may also file a claim online in your personal
account by logging into your online account.
The parking claim form may be found on the TRIP page on the
Benefit Strategies website.
http://www.benstrat.com/downloads/Commuter_Choice_Claim_
Form.pdf
The processing time for claims is 3-5 business days from the
day we receive it.
Reimbursement is available by check or direct deposit. For direct
deposit, you may add your banking information to your online
account. The Manage Banking Information section of the online
account will allow for the input of this information.
Hover over the profile tab at the top of the page and click on bank accounts
Click on add bank account
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Once you enroll in the TRIP benefit, an account will be created
for you. You will have 24 hour access to your account where
you can view your account balances, review transactions you
have made with the Debit Card, and file parking claims.
The login page can be accessed on the TRIP page of the
Benefit Strategies website.
https://benstrat.navigatorsuite.com/Login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%
2f
Your username is defaulted to your Young & Rubicam Group
Employee ID Number. Please enter this in the “Username”
field and then click “forgot password?” to create your
password.
Please contact our Benefit Strategies Customer Service Team
for assistance if you are not successful in logging in to your
account.
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If you go out on a Leave of Absence, your TRIP account is not
available to you for use. Under the guidelines of the IRS the
funds taken from your payroll are to be used while you are
actively working. The funds will remain in your Benefit Strategies
account for your use when you return to active working status.
Terms of use with Separation: the TRIP account and Flex Express
Debit Card remains active for your use until midnight of the last
day of the month that the separation occurred. Example: If the
separation date is May 5, 2014, the Flex Express Debit Card
remains active for your use until midnight on May 31, 2014.
◦ Transit - If there are any pretax transit funds remaining after the end of the
month in which you become separated, these funds will be forfeited. Post tax
transit funds are returned to you within 45 days of separation.
◦ Parking – Manual claims can be filed up to 180 days in arrears of the
separation. If a manual claim is not filed for qualifying parking expenses within
the 180 days after separation, the remaining pretax funds will be forfeited. At
this time the post tax parking will be returned to the former employee.