The federal tax break for commuters and their employers
The TransitChek program allows employers of any size to easily reduce the cost of their employees' commutes on public transit or vanpools. TransitChek is authorized as a tax-free benefit under Section 132(f) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Commuting costs paid for through TransitChek are not subject to federal income and FICA taxes, and there's no use-it-or-lose-it penalty or plans to prepare. Employees can receive up to $120 a month or $1440 a year in TransitChek benefits. Employers can save on FICA taxes and program costs are tax-deductible.

How it works
Employers offer TransitChek to their employees by ordering and distributing TransitChek vouchers. TransitChek vouchers come in denominations of $15, $20, $21, $30, $35, $60, and $65, which can be combined in any way up to the IRS monthly maximum of $120.



TransitChek vouchers may be redeemed to purchase tickets, tokens, and/or passes with every major area transit agency including: SEPTA, PATCO, NJ Transit (including the RiverLINE), DART First State, Capital Area Transit (Harrisburg), COLT (County of Lebanon Transit), Red Rose (Lancaster County), rabbittransit (York County), and Amtrak. Even the vanpool service VPSI accepts TransitCheks. For PATCO riders, TransitChek benefits are also available for electronic upload to FREEDOM cards.

TransitChek can be offered through pre-tax payroll deductions, as an employee-paid benefit, or as a combination of these. See Program Options for more details. The fees for the program are just a 2% service fee applied to the total cash value of your order, as well as a $12 shipping and handling fee per order. Even after accounting for the ordering fees, employers can come out ahead because of the tax savings TransitChek provides.