Fringe Benefits

The importance of contacting either the Tax Department or our Fringe Benefits compliance partner, the Human Resources Payroll Department, prior to providing any benefits cannot be overemphasized. Departments will be able to confidently inform their employees of the taxability of any benefits prior to the benefits being provided.

Fringe benefits are a form of payment, generally in exchange for the performance of services. All fringe benefits provided to employees are considered taxable, unless a specific exclusion applies. Due to the complexities involved with providing fringe benefits, we recommend that any departments providing fringe benefits to employees contact the Tax Department or Human Resources Payroll Department prior to providing any benefits. The below list is not intended to be comprehensive, it is only a sampling of common examples of fringe benefit categories provided by universities. The below list may be missing certain facts that must be present in order to provide for a tax-exempt fringe benefit.

Common Examples of Fringe Benefit Categories

1. Educational assistance:
   • Example – The UCF Tuition Waiver Program
2. No-additional-cost services:
   • Example – Tickets given to an athletics employee for a home game that did not sell out.
3. Qualified employee discounts:
   • Example – A twenty percent discount off the price of membership given to an employee of a gym.
4. Working condition fringes:
   • Example – A registration fee paid by UCF for an upcoming job-related conference.
5. De minimis fringes:
   • Example – An occasional holiday party.