Type: Guidelines
Type: Guidelines
Type: Guidelines
Type: Guidelines
The University’s federal tax identification number is 04-3167352. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ tax identification number is 04-6002284. The Commonwealth’s number is used for payroll tax purposes.
Type: Guidelines
Reviewed 10/1/2014, Scope, This guideline addresses the tax reporting requirements applicable to educational assistance provided by the University to employees’ relatives. Educational assistance includes tuition waivers and tuition remission., Graduate Courses, Graduate level educational assistance provided to employees’ relatives must be promptly reported to the Campus Payroll office. Graduate level educational assistance provided to employees’ relatives generally results in taxable wages to the employees equal to the fair market value of the educational assistance. The Campus Payroll office is required to do the necessary payroll tax withholding and…, Example, In 2006, Professor A’s wife, Mrs. A, decides to enroll in a graduate level computer science course. The regular tuition for the course is $300 and the total fees are $200. Professor A completes a tuition waiver form and gets Mrs. A’s tuition waived. Mrs. A must pay only the $200 of fees. As a result, Professor A has taxable income of $300, the amount of Mrs. A’s tuition waiver., Undergraduate Courses, Undergraduate level educational assistance provided on a nondiscriminatory basis to employees’ relatives is generally tax free under a provision allowing an exclusion of the benefit from the employees’ wages. The authority for this rule is Internal Revenue Code Section 117(d). Employee relatives eligible for this provision include the employee’s spouse and dependent children., Example, In 2006, Professor X’s husband, Mr. X, enrolls in an undergraduate computer science course. The regular tuition of the course is $300 and the total fees are $200. Professor X completes a tuition waiver form and gets all the tuition waived. Mr. X must pay only the $200 of fees. As a result of the exclusion provision for undergraduate level courses, Professor X has no taxable income from the…
Type: Guidelines
Reviewed 10/1/2014, Scope, This guideline addresses the tax reporting requirements applicable to graduate-level educational assistance provided by the University to employees. A separate guideline covers educational assistance provided to employees’ relatives. Educational assistance includes tuition waivers and tuition remission. Payroll Tax Guideline 110 summarizes the Internal Revenue Code provisions applicable to…, Educational Assistance Tax Form, All non job-related graduate-level educational assistance provided to employees by the University must be promptly reported to the Campus Payroll Office., General Rule, The University may exclude from an employee’s gross wages $5,250 of educational assistance each year, regardless of whether the courses are graduate-level, undergraduate level, job-related or non-job-related. If the value of educational assistance exceeds the annual $5,250 limit, the excess value attributable to graduate-level courses is excludible only if the courses are job-related. If the…, Job-Related Tests, If the two part job-related test is satisfied and documented, graduate level courses taken by employees qualify for exclusion from income. Acceptable documentation would include a form or memorandum signed by the employee’s supervisor. The job-related tests are not satisfied unless both of the following tests are met. First the educational assistance must meet one of the following requirements:…
Type: Guidelines
Revised April 4, 2018, Sections, 01: Summary 02: Scope and Purpose 03: HR - Payroll 04: Communication, 01: Summary, This policy promotes the proper stewardship of University funds by providing general guidelines for the appropriate and legal uses of University funds in support of the University's missions. This policy contemplates also that certain institutional duties and responsibilities have been delegated to the operating units (department/division) of the University involved in the conduct of business and…, 02: Scope and Purpose, The Internal Revenue Code that provided an exclusion from employees’ income for qualified moving expense payments and reimbursements made by employers has been suspended, except for military-related moving expenses, for tax years 2018 through 2025. All such payments made to an employee, or on an employee’s behalf, are now taxable income to the employee and are required to be reported on the…, 03: HR Payroll , The transition allowance will be paid through the payroll system as taxable compensation, following normal payroll procedures, using payroll earnings code MNQ – Transition Relocate Allowance. This earnings code “pays” and adds to taxable gross income., 04: Communication, The hiring department is responsible for communicating information regarding payment and taxability of the allowance to the employee. Tax treatment of an employee’s moving expenses, which will now be paid as a transition allowance, are governed by the Internal Revenue Service. All such payments made to an employee will be reported on the employee’s Form W-2. Federal and state income taxes,…, Sample Statement:, A comprehensive transition allowance in the amount of $____________ will be paid in lieu of moving, relocation and employment transition cost reimbursements and/or direct payments to commercial moving companies. The amount of the allowance will be paid to you during your first month of employment. The allowance will be processed as taxable compensation through the Payroll system with all…, Note:, Calendar Year (CY) 2018 is a Transition Year. This means expenses incurred in the previous Calendar Year (2017) will be taxed as stated above if payments are made in CY 2018.
Type: Guidelines
Reviewed 10/1/2014, Scope, This guideline covers federal tax reporting and withholding requirements related to wage payments made by the University for services rendered by nonresident alien employees., Background, Payments to nonresident alien employees are subject to unique tax withholding and reporting requirements. Payments to nonresident alien employees must be reported to the employees and the I.R.S. as follows: on Form W-2 (if no tax treaty applies), on Form 1042-S (if a tax treaty applies to all wages), or on both forms (if a tax treaty applies to some, but not all wages). The nonresident alien must…, Nonresident Aliens Defined, For federal tax purposes, individuals are generally taxed as nonresident aliens if they do not fall into any of the following categories: United States Citizen, Individual with a Green Card, or Individual without a Green Card who meets the substantial presence test. The “substantial presence test” is generally satisfied if the individual was in the U.S. for at least 31 days in the current…, U.S. Source Wages vs. Foreign Source Wages, The IRS tax reporting and withholding requirements only apply to U.S. source wages. Foreign source wages are not subject to U.S. tax law. In general, wages are sourced by reference to where the services are performed. U.S. source wages result from compensation earned with respect to services performed within the United States and foreign source wages result from services performed outside the…, References and Technical Resources, More information about the U.S. taxation of nonresident aliens is available at the IRS webpage: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers IRS Publication 513 – Tax Information for Visitors to the United States IRS Publication 515 – Withholding of Tax on Nonresident Aliens and Foreign Entities IRS Publication 519 – U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens IRS Publication 520 – Scholarships and…
Type: Guidelines
Reviewed 10/1/2014, Scope, This guideline covers the tax reporting and withholding requirements applicable to the personal use of University automobiles., General Rule, Personal use of a University automobile by a University employee must be reported as taxable wages on the employee’s Form W-2. University automobiles include any automobile leased, owned, or insured by the University or by a University affiliated entity. Courtesy cars provided to athletic department coaches and staff are generally treated as University automobiles for tax purposes. Personal use…, Courtesy Cars, When an automobile is provided to a University employee by a third party, such as a booster club or an automobile dealer, the University will include the automobile’s personal use on the employee’s Form W-2 if the automobile was contemplated during the employment process or was provided through an arrangement with the institution., Mileage Record Tax Form Responsibilities, A standard mileage record tax memorandum/form is used to determine the personal portion of University automobile usage and to calculate the attendant taxable wages. Any University employee that uses a University automobile for personal use must complete a mileage record tax form annually. It is the employee’s responsibility to maintain records necessary to permit accurate completion of the…, Annual Lease Value Method, The Annual Lease Value Method uses tables which consider the lease value of the car to be approximately 25% of the car’s fair market value plus $500. Generally the fair market value of an automobile is amount that an individual would have to pay in an arm’s-length transaction to purchase the particular automobile in the jurisdiction in which the vehicle is purchased or leased. Once calculated,…, Gasoline, The annual lease value does not include any fuel furnished by the University. If fuel paid for by the University is consumed in connection with personal use, the value of the fuel is considered additional compensation. Gasoline can generally be valued at the actual cost or at 5.5 cents per mile.
Type: Guidelines
