Public benefit overview · checked 11/03/2026
Employee Benefit Guide
A benefit name does not tell you its payroll treatment. Compare health coverage, spending accounts, insurance, retirement and other benefits, then follow the linked IRS guidance and governing law.
Keep employee and employer taxes separate. Review income inclusion, federal income-tax withholding, Social Security and Medicare, employer FUTA, and the conditions behind a contribution or reimbursement. State and local conformity, plan terms and employee eligibility need their own review.
This overview is public. Detailed professional learning and the original calculators retain the current free Payroll or HR / People / Benefits profile requirement. Newsletter and promotional email can both stay off.
Which benefit are you reviewing?
The professional guide covers the topics below, with separate federal treatment, plan conditions and official sources. It retains the deeper imputed-income walkthrough and fictional benefit examples.
- Medical coverage
- Dental coverage
- Vision coverage
- Health FSA
- Limited-purpose FSA
- Health Savings Account (HSA)
- Commuter transit / qualifying vanpool
- Qualified parking
- Dependent-care FSA / assistance
- Employer-carried group-term life (employee’s life)
- Voluntary / supplemental life
- Wellness / lifestyle wallet
- Voluntary LTD buy-up
- Short-term disability / sick pay
- Health reimbursement arrangement (HRA)
- Education / qualified student-loan assistance
- Traditional 401(k) deferrals
- Designated Roth 401(k) deferrals
- Catch-up and Roth rules
- Employer retirement contributions
- Plan loans
- Nonqualified deferred compensation — income tax
- Nonqualified deferred compensation — FICA timing
- 529 payroll deductions
Check the year and the unit.
The guide distinguishes previous 2025, current 2026 and following 2027 amounts. Each limit carries its year, unit and source. Following-year indexed figures stay unverified where no checked official announcement is available; a missing amount is not zero. Statutory thresholds are identified separately from annual announcements.
Employee contributions, employer contributions and later distributions can have different tax treatment. A pre-tax code, vendor label or noncash offset does not establish that an exclusion applies.
IRS Publication 15-B: Employer’s Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits · IRS Publication 15: Employer’s Tax Guide
Explore the detailed learning.
Use the Benefit Guide to trace benefit value, wage bases and payroll cash separately. Review the actual written plan, election and effective date before applying a rule. The 2026 learning calculators retain their stated scope; they do not determine exclusion eligibility or state/local tax.