Qualified transportation fringe benefits provided by your employer can be
excluded from your income up to certain limits. Qualified benefits include the
following, up to a certain amount per month, which may change year by year.
These amounts can be found in IRS instructions and publications:
Transportation in a commuter
highway vehicle (such as a van) between your home and work place,
A transit pass (for mass
transportation fares), or
Qualified parking.
If the transportation benefit exceeds the exclusion amounts, the excess is
taxable income to you.
Retirement Plan Contributions
The contributions your employer makes to a qualified retirement plan for you
are not included in your taxable income at the time the contributions are made.
But if your employer makes payments into a plan that is not qualified according
to the IRS, these contributions would be taxable to you. However, if your
interest in the plan is not transferable to you, or is subject to a substantial
risk of losing it at the time of the contribution, you do not have to include
the value of that contribution in your income until it is transferable or is no
longer subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture.
Outplacement Services
Outplacement services qualify for exclusion from income as a
working condition benefit; to the extent you could deduct the expense if you
had paid for it yourself (as a job hunting expense under miscellaneous itemized
deductions). The outplacement services would not be excludible if you could
choose to receive cash instead. For example, if you agree to accept
outplacement services in exchange for a reduction in your severance pay, the
amount of the reduction would be included in your taxable income.