If 80% of life is just showing up, what is your company doing to ensure your employees get where they need to go?
Progressive employers, mostly on the coasts, have been using commuter benefits to help employees turn their post-tax expense into a pre-tax benefit. Companies are constantly looking for cost savings and automation to reduce expenses and ensure that they have a healthy, happy, and productive workforce. Business Leaders and HR teams are constantly thinking of creative solutions to solve problems that hinder their employees on a daily basis. As companies continue to think about how to improve the lives and conditions of employees at work, organizations need to continue to ask themselves how they are differentiating from their competitors in the race to attract and retain top talent. Providing commuter benefits at your organization will not only guarantee a diverse talent pipeline, but provides employers with favorable tax benefits while reducing the need for single occupancy vehicles.
Equitable transportation has been an ongoing discussion for the last 50 years. While most employees rely on their own vehicles to get to and from work, studies have shown that 23% of workers have had to quit their jobs due to commuting challenges. Almost every job application has the following statement: “Do you have reliable transportation?” Has anyone that checked No EVER gotten the job? This question is a filtering mechanism, but Commuter Benefits allow employers to change that question into a statement: “If you need transportation, these options are available to employees.”
SHARE Mobility has been helping organizations to empower their workforce by offering unique solutions to mobility complications.
We are not a bus system (but we do work with the bus), nor a rideshare company (even though people share rides). We call it ‘mobility-as-a-service’. Basically, it’s like having your own transportation service without owning any vehicles. With SHARE, our clients gain access to our state of the art technology platform, that ensures our riders get to their final destination conveniently, and comfortably. Our software utilizes adaptive analytics to track traffic patterns, to make sure riders are always on the optimal path to their destination. While there are many benefits to utilizing transit services, certain tax credits exist for companies that use SHARE services.
Under Section 132(f) in the IRS tax code, there are specific Transportation Fringe Benefits that organizations can qualify for, based on benefits they provide. Organizations that use SHARE qualify for the “Commuter Tax Benefit”, which allows employers to deduct up to $280 per month for transit related expenses. (Increased from $270 to $280 in 2022.
Not only do employers get to enjoy these payroll tax breaks, employees end up paying less in federal income tax. This is because car related expenses are paid with post tax dollars. While SHARE allows employers to implement mobility services as a pre tax benefit. Along with favorable tax benefits, having SHARE provides customers with a competitive recruiting advantage. As the demand for talent increases, so does the need for a diverse workforce. Diversity and Inclusion continue to play a large role in organizational success, and talent planning. Guaranteeing commuter benefits to employees allows organizations to tap into historically unavailable talent pipelines.
Increasing mobility access has many different positive implications for not only organizations, but society as a whole.
Having a strong commuter benefits program can have a positive impact on the environment, by reducing the overall number of single occupancy vehicles on the road. Decreasing the number of vehicles on the road also leads to less emissions put in the air, lower accident rates, reduced traffic congestion, and less money that needs to be spent on infrastructure repairs.
By promoting equitable access to transportation, SHARE and their clients are changing the face of how the world thinks about mobility. Transportation demands continue to hinder economic mobility for individuals all over the globe. Implementing commuter benefits at your organization will not only increase the diversity of your workforce, but reduces the need for single occupancy vehicles while providing favorable tax benefits. If you want to understand how mobility works for your organization, we are offering a no-cost Commuter Analysis here.
