http://www.infinisource.net/Rss/FSA.ashx FSA - News & Review 10 Health care costs are not going away. Whether we like it or not, as the costs climb higher many employers are shifting more of the financial burden onto employees. While many employees try to take on a good, healthy lifestyle to reduce medical bills, sometimes that’s just not enough. One step employees can take is to lower the after-tax cost of their out-of-pocket expenditures by participating in an employer-sponsored Flexible Spending Account (FSA). ../Infinisource/Article.aspx?articleId=380fab33-4b02-4137-ad97-ffea709d93be Wednesday, November 04, 2009 Recently, the IRS issued Information Letter GENIN-126807-09, which provides guidance on whether some over-the-counter (OTC) expenses are medical care. This is the critical issue for deciding whether an expense may be reimbursed by a Health FSA or a Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA). ../Infinisource/Article.aspx?articleId=6360997c-1dde-45e1-be94-88ccbc33e385 Wednesday, September 02, 2009 Health FSA and HRA debit card expenses are increasingly auto-substantiated, very often at the point of purchase, through what is known as an inventory information approval system (IIAS). IRS Notice 2008-104 set a July 1, 2009, deadline for stores with the Drug Stores and Pharmacies merchant category codes to begin using an approved IIAS, unless 90 percent of the store's gross receipts during the prior taxable year consisted of §213(d) medical expenses. ../Infinisource/Article.aspx?articleId=7ca85707-c994-4ac8-b5f4-863d1cff3151 Sunday, July 05, 2009 Late in the fourth quarter of every year, the IRS publishes various mileage rates for the next tax year. Two rates affect employers: business mileage and medical mileage. The business mileage rate is typically more than twice the medical mileage rate. Have you ever wondered why? ../Infinisource/Article.aspx?articleId=3e55b249-a079-419e-83ed-f10f789dac28 Wednesday, May 06, 2009 Some of the more expensive items to reimburse under a Health FSA are those involving fertility treatments. It is not necessarily automatic that they qualify as an eligible expense for reimbursement. ../Infinisource/Article.aspx?articleId=dfefc8c0-9213-451a-a0d2-000a2213b8bb Wednesday, March 04, 2009 The use of a debit card has become secondhand for many FSA participants. However, what was easily a swipe to pick up prescriptions then a swipe at another location for over-the-counter medication may not be as easy if those merchants have not met certain criteria. ../Infinisource/Article.aspx?articleId=7a505f07-bdef-49b7-8cd4-36cc4e6109cb Thursday, December 11, 2008 Due to the high cost of gasoline in recent months, part of the emergency economic stabilization legislation that was signed by President Bush on October 3, 2008, included a new bicycle commuting fringe benefit, which amends the transportation plan portion of Internal Revenue Code Section 132(f). ../Infinisource/Article.aspx?articleId=29b2d5b5-4d4f-4b20-8c1a-814012d71d4d Thursday, November 06, 2008 Legal fees, mileage and infant formula were three types of expenses that IRS recently reviewed to determine whether they were qualified expenses for medical care. Such expenses are tax deductible (in some cases) and are reimbursable from a Health FSA or a Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA). ../Infinisource/Article.aspx?articleId=64af4cf1-f868-4f47-996d-8902c33f04da Thursday, November 06, 2008 In today’s economic times, employers are challenged with finding ways to offset rising health care costs and still enhance their benefit plans without passing costs on to their employees. Many of them are choosing a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) as a way to do this. An FSA is a tax saving strategy for both employers and employees. It allows employees to fund eligible medical and dependent care expenses with pre-tax dollars. It lowers employees’ taxable income and increases their take home pay. Employers benefit from the payroll tax savings which in many cases can easily cover the administrative costs. ../Infinisource/Article.aspx?articleId=d707295d-0936-4823-b06b-e31fce9dbc7a Thursday, November 06, 2008 In late September, the IRS posted Notice 2008-82, which provides guidance for a \"qualified reservist distribution\" (QRD) of some or all of the unused balance in a Health FSA. QRDs are a creation of the Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax (HEART) Act that was enacted earlier in 2008. ../Infinisource/Article.aspx?articleId=8431b6c5-2d92-429c-9d2c-9aac48603c86 Tuesday, October 14, 2008 As the end of the year approaches, enrollment season creates a critical deadline for Infinisource clients with FSA services. A communication has been sent to clients regarding January 2009 plan renewal. Additionally, a DVD with open enrollment presentations is being mailed to all FSA clients. This is key information for employers to allow for a smooth transition into the next plan year. ../Infinisource/Article.aspx?articleId=e9e3ebec-54c0-42ec-acfb-51110722fd3b Tuesday, October 14, 2008 In another attempt to help those called to active military duty, Congress passed House Bill 6081, better known as the HEART Act, with overwhelming bipartisan support. As of this writing, President Bush was expected to sign the law. ../Infinisource/Article.aspx?articleId=5567b7ed-4d24-4fc6-a444-05f1734f4388 Tuesday, June 10, 2008 ../Infinisource/Article.aspx?articleId=6d415a19-858a-4e91-a61c-a73903a7c176 Monday, January 07, 2008 ../Infinisource/Article.aspx?articleId=ec3358eb-f684-40c2-aeda-e6317c0300e6 Monday, January 07, 2008 ../Infinisource/Article.aspx?articleId=e897c706-95c4-4bba-a51a-09f7867dfa0b Monday, December 10, 2007 When is food considered a medical expense? This question was recently posed to the IRS by none other than Rep. John Sarbanes (R-OH). ../Infinisource/Article.aspx?articleId=2f18ffe6-d147-41fa-b33a-ef5cd4cf26f2 Monday, November 12, 2007 In November 2006, the IRS issued Revenue Ruling 2006-57, long-awaited guidance on the use of debit cards for Section 132 Transportation Plans. The ruling related to the use of debit cards for transit passes, and was due to take effect on January 1, 2008. ../Infinisource/Article.aspx?articleId=dc2eb211-32e0-4fa9-b922-bccc906e3305 Monday, November 12, 2007 In August, the IRS issued Final Regulations on what constitutes an eligible expense for purposes of the Dependent Care tax credit and, more importantly for employers, Dependent Care FSAs. ../Infinisource/Article.aspx?articleId=b29a59b8-dfdd-46e3-9339-fc9bae4197de Monday, September 10, 2007 Its 12:15 p.m., an employee walks in to the pharmacy for a prescription, swipes a tax-advantaged debit card to pay and is out the door. At 3 p.m. the same employee visits a doctor’s office and swipes the debit card for the co-pay amount. One more transaction at 7 p.m. when the employee goes online to order over-the-counter medicine with the same debit card. ../Infinisource/Article.aspx?articleId=7eb8e004-bd1d-4615-a929-afcbdb3e5b54 Monday, August 13, 2007 In May, the IRS issued regulations that clarify when a parent may claim a child as a dependent when the parents of the child are divorced, separated or live apart at all times during the last six months of a calendar year. ../Infinisource/Article.aspx?articleId=4e7616a3-bc5c-4d26-be2b-9870929ee16e Monday, June 11, 2007 Two months and 15 days – that's the magical number for Health FSA grace periods. Participants with FSA plan dollars remaining have a limited time to use the pre-tax dollars for medical expenses before the money disappears. ../Infinisource/Article.aspx?articleId=f9a5563e-cd5e-497f-a43e-603dcb088ceb Monday, March 12, 2007