Benefits Blog

IRS Announces FSA and Parking/Transit Adjustments for 2020

Posted by Sierra Betterley on Wednesday, November 06, 2019 @ 11:16 AM

IRS ANNOUNCES ADJUSTMENTS FOR 2020

Today, November 6, 2019, the IRS released a statement announcing the Health Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and Qualified Parking and Transportation Account election limits for any plan years beginning in 2020.

 

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Tags: IRS, FSA, HSA, contribution limits, irs bulletin, Dependent Care FSA, 2020, Qualified Parking, Qualified Transportation, Commuter Benefits

HSA vs 401(k)

Posted by Sean Kadel on Thursday, February 14, 2019 @ 03:01 PM

HSA vs 401(k)

If your company has decided to offer a high deductible health plan, don’t worry, you are not alone. Recent studies show that an increasing number of employers have elected to offer high deductible health plans (HDHP) either to completely replace or be offered in conjunction with a more traditional Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plan or Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) plan. When sponsoring a HDHP, employers typically offer their employees the ability to contribute to a Health Savings Account (HSA) to help offset the increased deductible associated with the HDHP. In 2017, 19 percent of all workers were enrolled in a HDHP with a HSA savings option. This is a dramatic rise since 2007 when just over 4 percent were covered under such plans. 

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Tags: Retirement Planning, IRS, 401(k), Healthcare, HSA, TPA, tax savings, financial planning

2019 FSA Contribution Limits Announced

Posted by Meri Christenson on Wednesday, November 28, 2018 @ 11:49 AM

IRS_logo-300x300-80x80On Thursday, November 15, 2018, the IRS released a statement that officially increased the annual contribution limit for Healthcare Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) - both Medical FSAs and Limited Purpose FSAs - and the monthly contribution limits for Qualified Parking and Transportation Accounts for any plan years beginning in 2019. There was no change to the Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account. 

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Tags: IRS, FSA, contribution limits

Legislative Update: IRS Revises HSA Family Contribution Limit for 2018

Posted by Lindsay Barnard on Wednesday, March 07, 2018 @ 09:25 AM

On Monday, the IRS released Bulletin 2018-10, which included a revision to the 2018 Family contribution limit for Health Savings Accounts (HSA).

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Tags: IRS, HSA, employers, Health Savings Accounts, Education, tax return, taxes, contribution, contribution limits, legislative updates, irs bulletin, legislation

IRS Increases FSA Limit to $2,600 in 2017

Posted by Jim Hayes on Tuesday, October 25, 2016 @ 09:26 PM


The IRS Increases Medical FSA Limit to $2,600:

The IRS announced today (10/25/2016) that the Medical FSA and Limited Purpose FSA cap will increase to $2,600 (an increase $50) for plan years beginning on or after January 1st, 2017. If your plan document was created by 24HourFlex the language will reference the maximum amount permitted, in which case no change is required.

Keep reading below for commonly asked questions related to this update.

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Tags: IRS, FSA

The New Healthcare Cadillac Tax - Why it Matters to YOU

Posted by Nathan Carlson on Thursday, December 03, 2015 @ 09:05 AM

 

Your employer may soon have to cut back on the healthcare benefits provided to you to avoid an onerous 40% federal tax called the “Cadillac Tax”.  Starting in 2018, companies that are too generous to their employees by providing attractive healthcare insurance will be hit with a huge tax.  The Kaiser Family Foundation, a respected, nonprofit research group, estimates that one in four companies will be affected by this tax, and to avoid it, will have to cut back on their healthcare benefits.

To add insult to injury, the law says that starting in 2018, any pretax amount YOU put into your own Medical Flexible Spending Account or Health Savings Account has to be counted as employer-provided healthcare benefits and could trigger this 40% Cadillac tax.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Such contributions count as EMPLOYER contributions when calculating this tax, which means that starting in 2018 when you make these pretax payroll contributions to your own Medical Flexible Spending Account or your own Health Savings Account (HSA), your employer may have to cut back even further on the healthcare benefits provided to you if this onerous 40% tax is to be avoided.

As our Congressmen and Senators are becoming aware of the unfair nature of this tax, a bipartisan coalition is forming to change the law.  This provision of Healthcare reform is so bad that even Labor Unions and Republicans have joined together to amend this portion of the Act.  Politics makes for strange bedfellows at times.

Isn’t 2018 a long way off?  Why do I care now? 

In anticipation of this upcoming “Cadillac” tax, companies are already cutting back on their healthcare benefit packages by only offering healthcare insurance with larger deductibles, knowing that big changes to benefits packages cannot be done in just one year.

What Can You Do?

24HourFlex has joined forces with ECFC, the Employer’s Council for Flexible Compensation, to change the law.  Ideally, we would like the “Cadillac” Tax provisions repealed entirely.  At this time that may not be realistic.  However, at a minimum we want the law changed so that YOUR pretax contributions to YOUR Medical Flexible Spending Account or YOUR Health Savings Account are NOT counted as EMPLOYER contributions when calculating this tax. 

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Tags: IRS, Health Care

2016 FSA Limits

Posted by Jim Hayes on Tuesday, November 03, 2015 @ 03:23 PM

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Tags: IRS

IRS Clarifies New Carry-Over Provision’s Impact on HSAs

Posted by Nathan Carlson on Wednesday, April 09, 2014 @ 04:43 PM

Are you or your client considering adding the new Carry-Over provision to your Flex Plan?  The IRS recently issued important guidance on how this Carry-Over provision impacts HSAs.  If not set up correctly, the Carry-Over provision will invalidate many HSA contributions, resulting in a loss of deduction and penalties.  My Bulletin describes how to create Fail-Safe language that guards against these issues.

This Information Bulletin is a must-read for:

  • any employer that has adopted (or is contemplating adopting) the new IRS Carry-Over provision and also offers an HSA-qualified HDHP,

  • vendors that offer HDHPs, and
  • industry professionals that provide related consulting or insurance services.

Click Here For Bulletin

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Tags: IRS, Carry-Over, Cafeteria Plans

IRS Announces $500 Carry‐Over Provision for Health FSA Plans!

Posted by Nathan Carlson on Friday, November 01, 2013 @ 03:03 PM

IRS Announces $500 Carry‐Over Provision for Health FSA Plans!

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Tags: IRS, Health Insurance, DOMA FSA HSA

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