You’ve got questions? We’ve got answers!
To assist VitaCommute participants in learning more about the commuter benefit, we’ve created the following helpful resource of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). If you have a question about your VitaCommute account not addressed below, please feel free to contact the VitaCommute Service Center for additional assistance.
A qualified commuter benefit plan is an employee tax-savings program governed by IRS Code Section 132. Employees elect to participate in the VitaCommute plan on a monthly basis and can choose to reduce their taxable income by an amount equal to their anticipated commuting expenses (e.g., parking fees, transit passes, shuttle services, bus fares), up to the statutory monthly limits. Then, based on the method of reimbursement available, transit passes or vouchers, Smartcards, or debit cards are provided directly to the employee to cover the cost of the commuter expenses. For qualified parking expenses, the option to have payments sent directly to the parking facility may also be available.
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For 2012, the monthly pre-tax limits are $125 for transit and vanpool expenses, and $240 for parking expenses. If you pay for parking and for transit, you can take advantage of both sides of this benefit. These limits are set by the federal government and are subject to change annually.
There is also a $20 per month bicycle benefit, which is fully employer subsidized. If you take advantage of the bicycle benefit you cannot take advantage of the transit or parking benefits in the same month.
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By taking advantage of a qualified commuter benefit plan, VitaCommute participants can save on the following payroll taxes for all contributions set aside through pre-tax reductions:
- Federal Income Tax 10% - 35% depending on tax bracket
- CA State Income Tax Up to 9.3%
- Social Security Tax (FICA) 4.2% to wage base
- Medicare Tax 1.45% on all wages
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There are currently no IRS tax reporting requirements for pre-tax contributions set aside in a commuter benefit plan.
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A qualified commuter benefit plan provides you with the opportunity to reduce your taxable income on commuting expenses you’re already paying. Depending on your tax bracket, you can save up to 40% off your commuting expenses simply by setting aside the funds in a qualified commuter benefit plan. By not participating in VitaCommute, you’re taking extra money out of your own pocket. And if you haven’t considered an alternative method of commuting to work, this is the time to do so. Not only would you help protect our environment for generations to come, but you would save money on your commute.
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In addition to the tax savings, you can also benefit from the convenience of online ordering and direct home delivery. No more standing in line to buy tickets or waiting for reimbursement. Your desired fare passes or tickets will be sent directly to your home. You can also set up a recurring order, so you won't have to do anything unless you want to cancel the order or make a change.
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VitaCommute allows employees to save on their eligible commuting expenses by enabling pre-tax contributions via payroll. Then, in partnership with WiredCommute, VitaCommute provides an easy-to-use Web-based enrollment tool for employees to select the commuter benefit products that best meet their specific commuting needs. Depending on the commuter benefit products selected, employees are provided with direct delivery of the applicable transit passes, vouchers, Commuter Check debit card, or Direct Pay functionality.
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Unlike other pre-tax benefits such as Medical Flexible Spending Arrangements (FSAs) and Dependent Care Assistance Plans (DCAPs), enrollment and participation in the VitaCommute program is not restricted to an annual “Open Enrollment” period. Once participant eligibility is confirmed, you are free to participate in the VitaCommute program on a monthly basis.
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Information regarding the VitaCommute account login process can be found here.
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VitaCommute username and password information can be found on the Welcome Letter sent to you upon initial enrollment in the VitaCommute program. If you do not have access to your Welcome Letter, then feel free to contact the VitaCommute Service Center to request a copy of your Web login information.
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Receipts are not required when you order your public transportation passes online. The only time that you would be required to submit a receipt would be to verify a request for cash reimbursement of qualified parking expenses.
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The specific date that a commuter benefit payroll deduction will appear on your paycheck will vary by employer. Some employers elect to split up the deduction amount over multiple paychecks within the benefit month, while others elect to take the full payroll deduction on the first payroll period of the benefit month. To confirm the specific deduction schedule for your employer, please contact the VitaCommute Service Center.
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Unlike other pre-tax benefits such as Medical Flexible Spending Arrangements (FSAs) and Dependent Care Assistance Plans (DCAPs), unused contributions set aside in your VitaCommute account do not expire on an annual basis. Instead, unused contributions carry over from year-to-year and only expire when you lose eligibility in the VitaCommute program or leave your employer, either via voluntary or involuntary termination.
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VitaCommute participants have direct access to a full suite of online resources, including archived account correspondence, election details, summary reports, eligible expense database, commuter expense calculator, and much more. All of these resources are available at the click of a mouse to allow easy access to the information you need.
If you encounter any problems within the VitaCommute benefit ordering platform, a “Help” tab is located in the navigation menu along the left side of the page.
In addition, participants can contact the VitaCommute Service Center, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Pacific Time), with any questions related to their account. Contact information for the VitaCommute Service Center can be found here.
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To place an order, you must first access your VitaCommute account by logging in to the secure Vita system. You can access the account login section by clicking on the ‘User Login’ link located at the top of the page or by clicking here. Upon entering your login information and accessing your Vita account profile, you may select the VitaCommute link to access your VitaCommute account information. From this screen, select the “Place/Modify an Order” link located on the left side of the menu to be redirected to the VitaCommute benefit ordering platform.
Select the appropriate metropolitan area, then search for participating transit agencies and parking providers, and shop between commuter products to determine the appropriate fare media type for you. Add the desired fare media to your shopping cart and finalize your order. Product orders are processed on a monthly basis and the requested fare media is mailed directly to your preferred address ahead of the corresponding benefit month.
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No, you do not have to remember to place an order every month. When finalizing your shopping cart within the VitaCommute benefit ordering platform, you will be prompted to select whether this is a one-time order or should be set to recur every month. If an order is set to recur every month, then no additional action is required to initiate future orders of the same product.
You also have the ability to set an order to recur every month and then exclude specific future benefit months. For example, if you set a recurring order but know that you’ll be on vacation in July, then you can exclude the month of July from your recurring order and no fare media will be sent for that benefit month. For the months before and after the excluded month, the recurring order will be processed as usual.
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From within the VitaCommute benefit ordering platform, select either the “Edit Recurring Options” or “Delete Entire Order” links provided to edit your current VitaCommute orders.
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When finalizing your VitaCommute shopping cart, the act of unselecting a specific future benefit month under “Recurring Options” only prevents order processing for that month. To cancel your entire VitaCommute order, you must click either “Delete Entire Order” or “Remove Order” from the order section of the VitaCommute benefit ordering platform home screen.
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If you have a transit pass order in the shopping cart and the transit pass rate increases, then your shopping cart will be automatically updated to reflect the new rate. An automatic system-generated email will be sent to the email address on file in your account to notify you of the rate increase.
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The VitaCommute benefit ordering platform keeps track of parking operators’ billing addresses rather than parking lot locations. If you cannot locate the parking operator based on the location of the parking lot, then it may be because the billing address is different. Please search via the billing address (where payments are sent) rather than the lot location (where you physically park your car).
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Once the parking order is confirmed, VitaCommute will contact the parking provider to confirm the information provided in the order. If the parking provider's payment details are confirmed, then the payment will be sent directly to the parking provider. If the order information cannot be confirmed with the parking provider or is inaccurate, then your parking payment (a parking voucher made payable to the parking provider) will be mailed to your preferred address on file, and you will be responsible to then provide the parking voucher to your parking provider.
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All forms of public transportation (bus, train, light rail, subway, ferry, etc.), vanpools, commuter highway vehicles, and parking at or near your place of employment are all eligible pre-tax expenses. In addition, parking at or near a location from which you commute to work – including by public transit, vanpool or carpool – is a qualified expense.
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Under the rules set forth by the IRS tax code, mileage reimbursement, road or bridge tolls, fuel costs, and carpooling expenses are not eligible under this program. Business travel and other reimbursed expenses are also excluded from this benefit.
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VitaCommute offers a nationwide network of transit agencies and parking providers with more than 100,000 different types of tickets and passes. In most cases, we have the exact fare media that you need for your transit or parking provider. If you don't see the specific transit agency or parking provider that you are looking for, please contact us at (650) 966-1492 and we will add it for you.
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Once you have made a proactive commuter benefit election via the VitaCommute benefit ordering platform, the applicable commuter products will be mailed directly to your preferred delivery address. Depending on the commuter product selected, you will then be able to redeem the fare media at any authorized transit agency location. If you elect to have parking fees paid directly to the parking provider, you won’t receive any fare media as the funds will be transferred automatically. Most forms of fare media are mailed by the 23rd day of the month for use the following month.
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VitaCommute Prepaid MasterCard’s can be used at transit agencies or designated transit retail centers where ONLY transit passes, transit tickets, fare cards, and vanpool passes are sold. Additional funds may be added to the MasterCard through the VitaCommute benefit ordering platform, which can be accessed by logging into your secure account here.
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VitaCommute transit vouchers are redeemable at transit agencies for the purchase of transit passes, tickets, cards, tokens and other fare media. Available in any denomination, they are redeemable anywhere transit vouchers are accepted.
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Employees who participate in a qualified vanpool can use VitaCommute vanpool vouchers to pay their monthly fares by giving the vouchers directly to their driver or affiliated vanpool provider.
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The VitaCommute voucher for parking can be redeemed for parking expenses with any of the participating parking providers in our extensive national network, eliminating the need for receipt collection. It can also accommodate daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly parking arrangements.
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VitaCommute bicycling vouchers can be redeemed at bicycle stores and repair shops around the country and can be applied toward equipment purchases, bike purchases, repairs and storage.
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Reimbursement checks are processed twice a month.
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Transit pass refunds are processed once a week on Fridays.
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If you do not receive your pass by the first day of the month, simply purchase the pass you need and submit a VitaCommute Refund Form to be refunded for that expense. The VitaCommute Refund Form must be submitted by the 10th day of the applicable benefit month. To download the VitaCommute Refund Form, please go to the “Help” tab within the VitaCommute benefit ordering platform.
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If your original pass arrives after you have purchased a replacement pass, you MUST return the original pass to VitaCommute. Include the unused pass in an envelope marked “VitaCommute Customer Service – Lost Pass” and mail it to the address provided below. Along with the unused pass, please also attach a completed VitaCommute Lost Pass Request Form, which can be found under the “Help” tab within the VitaCommute benefit ordering platform.
VitaCommute Customer Service – Lost Pass
900 North Shoreline Boulevard
Mountain View, CA 94043
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Unfortunately, lost transit passes and other forms of fare media provided by VitaCommute assume cash value upon receipt and cannot be replaced. Certain SmartCards and parking vouchers may offer the potential for replacement, but it depends on the specific transit agency or parking provider involved. Please contact the VitaCommute Service Center to determine whether you have the option to request a replacement form of fare media.
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In the event that you receive the incorrect transit pass in the mail, please contact the VitaCommute Service Center as soon as possible by either calling (650) 966-1492 or sending an e-mail to commute@vitamail.com. Please do not attempt to use the incorrect pass in any manner as this could impact your ability to receive a refund or replacement transit pass.
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