IRS — National Grievance over Failure to Pay Retroactive Transportation Subsidy Increases Sustained NTEU has prevailed in the national grievance over the failure of the IRS to pay retroactive transportation subsidy increases. Attached is the arbitration award. On January 1, 2012, the amount of the public transportation subsidy that is deemed nontaxable automatically decreased from $230 per month to $125 per month due to the failure of Congress to enact legislation extending the parity of the transit subsidy with the parking subsidy. On January 2, 2013, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA) became law. ATRA retroactively increased the nontaxable amount of the transit subsidy to $240 per month for all months in 2012. The subsidy was increased to $245 per month to adjust for inflation for all months in 2013. The IRS did not begin paying up to the new nontaxable amount of $245 per month until March 1, 2013. On February 5, 2013, NTEU filed a national grievance alleging that the IRS breached Article 53, Section 10 of the parties’ 2012 National Agreement II (NA II) when it refused to pay employees retroactive transit subsidies up to the new nontaxable amount for 2012 and January-February 2013. An arbitration hearing was held on September 11, 2013. On January 9, 2014, the arbitrator sustained NTEU’s grievance. The arbitrator held that under Article 53, Section 10 of the NA II the IRS was required to pay retroactive transit subsidies to employees who participated in the IRS’s Public Transportation Subsidy Program (PTSP) up to the new nontaxable amount under ATRA for 2012 and 2013. Specifically, this entails payment of retroactive transit subsidies to employees who participated in the IRS’s PTSP at any time from January 1, 2012 through February 28, 2013, in the amount of transit costs they incurred in excess of $125 per month and up to $240 per month ($245 per month for 2013). The arbitrator remanded the case to the parties to decide the method for making payments of retroactive transit subsidies to impacted employees. NTEU is currently working on creating a claims process whereby impacted employees can submit requests for payment of retroactive transit subsidies to the IRS. Based on current regulations, this will require employees to certify the actual amount of commuting costs they incurred each month from January 1, 2012 through February 28, 2013. At this time, NTEU encourages any employees who believe they are entitled to receive retroactive transit subsidies to review their public transit expenses in preparation for submitting reimbursement requests to the IRS once a claims process has been established. The Chapter will continue to keep you informed as developments occur. If you have any questions concerning this matter, please contact the union office.
Posted on: Fri, 17 Jan 2014 08:51:20 +0000
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