Description
Employees in positions eligible for free admission to university-related athletic or cultural events for job-related purposes are authorized by POL 05.15.03 for Non-Salary and Deferred Compensation.
Recurring (or season ticket) admission to athletic or cultural events provided to an EPA employee for non-business-related purposes must be authorized in advance on a case-by-case basis by the Board of Trustees (BOT); the value is considered reportable and taxable income. The Non-Salary Compensation Form must be completed, approved and submitted prior to payment.
Single-use tickets to campus events that could not otherwise be sold (and thus have no market value) may be distributed on a nondiscriminatory basis as occasional employee recognition/ appreciation awards by the chancellor, vice chancellor or dean. Single-use tickets are not reportable or taxable.
Taxation of Tickets
The value of tickets, other than single-use tickets, provided to an EPA employee for non-business-related purposes is considered taxable income and included in the taxable grosses for social security, Medicare, federal, and state reporting. Social security (OASDI) and Medicare taxes (Fed-Med) are withheld on the paycheck.
Responsible People
Employee: The employee has no reporting responsibility
College or Department: Colleges or departments are not required to report to University Payroll tickets provided to individuals in positions authorized by this policy, by the athletic director’s position-based schedule or a recipient approved by the BOT as an exception so long as the event tickets are for job-related purposes. If not deemed job-related, the college or department must provide – on a memo or spreadsheet – the following information to University Payroll:
- Employee Name
- Employee ID number
- Value of tickets
- Pay cycle of employee (biweekly or monthly)
- Status of employee, if not currently active (LOA, terminated, etc.)
The schedule for providing the information to University Payroll is based on the type of tickets, as follows:
- Football season ticket information is due by October 1st of each year.
- Basketball season ticket information is due by November 15th of each year.
- All other ticket information is due on a quarterly basis by the 5th of April (for quarter ending March 31), July (for quarter ending June 30), October (for quarter ending September 30) and January (for quarter ending December 31)
- Special note – submit immediately if employee terminates
University Payroll: Based upon the information provided by the department, University Payroll will enter the taxable value into the HR System using the appropriate earnings code:
- EA1 EventAthl – Events – Athletic
- ECI EventOther – Events – Cultural/Oth