Benefits - Flexible Spending Account

Benefits

Flexible Spending Account - Dependent Care

SU offers employees the opportunity to contribute pre-tax dollars to a Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account administered by WageWorks.

If you still have claims to submit for FSA-eligible expenses from 2012, you will have until April 30, 2013 to submit them to our previous account administrator, EBS-RMSCO. Click here to download the EBS-RMSCO paper dependent care claim form.

Benefit Design

The Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account offers tax savings on eligible child and elder care expenses provided by qualified caregivers.

Qualifying expenses may only be reimbursed for the care of one or more "qualifying dependents." In general, a "qualifying dependent" is either (1) an eligible dependent under the age of 13, or (2) a spouse or eligible dependent, regardless of age, if that individual is physically or mentally unable to care for him or herself.
If services are provided by a dependent care center, the center must be licensed by New York State or an appropriate government agency and meet certain other requirements.
If services are provided by an individual, you must supply the caregiver's social security or taxpayer identification number when submitting claims for reimbursement, as well as any other information required by the Plan Administrator to assure that the expenses are properly reimbursable. Expenses are not reimbursable if, among other things, the care provider is the dependent of you or your spouse, or is your child and is under the age of 19 at the end of the plan year.
Expenses for a dependent who does not qualify as your dependent for federal income tax purposes are not eligible for reimbursement under your dependent care flexible spending account.
You generally can contribute up to $5,000 per household annually to this account. (The maximum limit is $2,500 for married individuals filing separate returns).

Keep in mind that in January you will be making your regular dependent care payments but your account will not yet be funded. You cannot request reimbursement from the Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account for more than has been deposited into it. Depending on the amount of your contribution, it may take more or less time to build up enough of a balance to be reimbursed for your expenses.

Reimbursement Process

The reimbursement process through WageWorks is simple. Just follow these 5 easy steps:

Incur your eligible expenses and pay bills as you normally would.
Submit your claim, receipts, and any additional required information to WageWorks by selecting one of the following options:
- EZ Receipts app - allows you to file your claim from your smart phone or other mobile device. Click here for an online tutorial of this option.
- WageWorks online - log into WageWorks to submit a claim and view all of your account information.
- Pay Me Back paper claim form - Click here to download the paper dependent care FSA claim form for mail or fax submission to WageWorks.
WageWorks will reimburse you once they have approved your claim. Reimbursements will be sent to you via paper check as a default. If you would like to receive your reimbursements via direct deposit, you may elect to enroll in this option online by logging into your WageWorks account.
You will have until April 30 of the following plan year to submit claims for expenses incurred during the plan year January 1 - December 31.
WageWorks processes checks daily, so you should receive your reimbursement quickly.

Subject to applicable COBRA rights, should you terminate or otherwise become ineligible for benefits during the calendar year, you will have until April 30 of the following year to submit eligible expenses for reimbursement.

Helpful Links

Interactive FSA Tax Savings Calculators

Questions? Contact the HR Service Center at 443-4042 or e-mail hrservic@syr.edu.

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The web pages summarize your Syracuse University benefit options. Every effort has been made to ensure this information is accurate. However, the programs are governed by legal documents and insurance contracts. If there is any difference between the information on these web pages and the official documents and contracts, the official documents and contracts will rule. Our benefits are governed by current laws and operated according to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations. We will notify you if changes in plans are necessary to comply with the law or with IRS regulations.

Employees electing to participate in the SU benefit plans are bound by the terms of the governing Plan documents. If you have any questions regarding the plans, you may request a copy of the Plan document from the Plan Administrator by contacting the HR Service Center at the number indicated at the end of this page.

As is the case with all benefits offered by SU, (1) the Plan Administrator has the discretionary authority to interpret the terms of the Plan and such interpretation will be binding on all interested parties to the fullest extent permitted by law, and (2) the University reserves the right to modify or terminate the Plan at any time.