SilverSquare OP t1_j6ldylm wrote on January 31, 2023 at 3:34 AM

Reply to comment by Brye11626 in Are commuter benefits worth it despite working remotely? I still take public transportation. by SilverSquare

I replied in a different response, but in the event I do this and I do this the correct way (using it only for work-related travel), would I have to log my travels in case I ever get audited? The way that they would provide this benefit to me is I would make a declaration of how much I’d want to take out of my paycheck, it would be added to either a commuter card debit card (or straight into a transit pass if I wanted to), and afterwards I’d use that card to buy/load my transit pass.

What are the odds of being audited for something like this? I’ll definitely bring this up and ask my benefits team since they distinguish between commuting and parking, with only work specific language on the parking portion where it states that this can be used to pay for parking near your workplace. versus the commuting is just a catch-all “use it to pay for commuting expenses (bus/train/carpool), but nothing else (rideshare like Uber/Lyft not included).

Brye11626 t1_j6lg797 wrote on January 31, 2023 at 3:52 AM

I'm not sure anyone knows, and I've never known someone to get audited for intracity public transport. It may exist, but I've never heard of it. The fact that most card providers tell you not to do it at least raises some concern they could cancel your account for incorrect usage (violating terms of service does not require a law to be broken).

Your benefits team will likely provide little or no help (just like your card supplier) since the law is ambiguous. They will repeat the same language the IRS has stated ("parking near your workplace" and "transit expenses").

The problem is exactly what you stated. Back to the original subcategory we are talking about. Commuter expenses. “Use it to pay for commuting expenses (bus/train/carpool)".

Would you consider a trip to the grocery store a "commuting expense"? I certainly wouldn't. Will anyone care? I certainly doubt it.