Purpose

This bulletin supplements Payroll Bulletin 286 in relation to the processing and taxation of educational assistance benefits for 2001

Affected Employees

Employees who received a taxable employer-provided educational assistance benefit during the 2001 calendar year through the State's Central Accounting System.

Agency Reporting

Reimbursement for courses processed through the Central Accounting System must be reported to the payroll system (PaySR) in order to effectuate the withholding of taxes.

Taxable amounts for 2001 should be entered into PaySR as soon as possible.

Tax Rules

The tax rules governing employer-provided educational assistance benefits for 2001 are available on Payroll Bulletin 286.

Time Entry On-Line Instructions

Agencies may enter the taxable value into PaySR on the TIME ENTRY panel or report the transaction on the MISCELLANEOUS PAYMENTS FILE. Specific reporting procedures are provided below.

On the Time Entry panel, enter the following information:

1. Earnings Begin Date - use the beginning date of the current pay period
2. Earnings Earn Date - use the ending date of the current pay period
3. Earn Code - enter or select the earnings code EDA for Education Assistance - Taxable
4. Amount - enter the amount of taxable Education Assistance
5. Audit Cmts - Click on this button if you would like to add comments
   1. Type any comments related to the taxable Educational Assistance benefits
   2. Click OK
6. Save Panel

Misc. Payments File Instructions

Agencies reporting this information using the Miscellaneous Payments File should use the same data elements as shown above in the Time Entry On-Line Instructions.

Questions

Questions regarding this bulletin may be directed to the Payroll Deductions mailbox.