Ezel / IRS Rulings / 201302039

Shipping fees for employee transit passes may be excludable commuting costs

Number
201302039
Outcome
Advice
Document type
Chief Counsel Advice
IRS subject
Certain Fringe Benefits
Topics
Income and deductions
Code sections
§ 132
Ruling dated
November 13, 2012
Publicly released
January 11, 2013
Source
View Official PDF

Apply this to your situation

This page covers legal advice the IRS Office of Chief Counsel wrote for IRS staff, issued in 2013, which can't be cited as precedent. Ask about your situation and see what the current Code and IRS guidance say, with citations.

Currency note: this determination was released in 2013
Statutory amendments, regulation changes, court decisions, or later IRS guidance may have changed the analysis since then. Treat this page as historical context, not current tax advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, threshold, or position mentioned here.
Not precedent. Under 26 U.S.C. § 6110(k)(3), this written determination may not be used or cited as precedent. It is advice from the IRS Office of Chief Counsel to IRS personnel on the facts they presented, and identifying details were redacted by the IRS before release. The official IRS release (linked on this page as a PDF) is the authoritative source.
About this page: The plain-English summary and ruling snapshot below were written by Ezel based on the official IRS release. The full text is the IRS's own document.
View official IRS release (PDF)

Plain-English summary

Chief Counsel advice addressed shipping fees paid by employees to obtain transit passes. The advice concluded that the fees should be treated as a commuting cost and may be excluded from income when the employee pays them, assuming the combined cost of the transit passes and shipping fees does not exceed the applicable monthly limit. The document states a $125 monthly limit.

Ruling snapshot

  • Question: May employee-paid shipping fees for transit passes be treated as commuting costs eligible for exclusion under section 132?
  • Outcome: Advice given
  • Key authorities: IRC § 132

Full text (IRS public release)

ID: CCA_2012111313070132 Number: 201302039
Release Date: 1/11/2013
Office: --------------
UILC: 132.00-00

From: --------------------
Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2012 1:07:11 PM
To: ----------------------
Cc:
Subject: RE: ---------------Transit Benefits

We discussed shipping fees with Treasury and decided that, if individual employees pay shipping fees to acquire their transit passes, then those fees should be included as a cost of commuting, and the employees should be able to exclude those fees (assuming the cost of the passes and the fees together does not exceed the $125 per month limit) from income.

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