Take Advantage of Stanford’s Pre-tax Commuter Benefits

Would you like to save up to 40% on out-of-pocket expenses for your commute? It’s easy to do with Stanford’s pre-tax payroll deduction program. Whether you take transit, drive and park, or both, this program could help you save.

How does the program work?

If you are a benefits-eligible Stanford employee, you can use pre-tax dollars to purchase parking, transit, and other eligible commute expenses through pre-tax payroll deduction. This means the amount deducted from your paycheck to purchase eligible commute expenses is not taxed as part of your income. The IRS allows up to $325* per month for parking and up to $325* per month for transit and other eligible commute expenses using pre-tax dollars.

• Pre-tax parking permits at Stanford: If you are a benefits-eligible employee, we automatically apply pre-tax payroll deduction as your payment method when you purchase an ‘A,’ ‘C,’ ‘C-SRWC,’ ‘Z,’ or ‘MC’ parking permit in our online ordering system.
• Pre-tax transit expenses: Eligible commuters can purchase transit, transit parking (such as Caltrain and BART parking), Clipper cash value, and Commuter Checks with pre-tax dollars through the Edenred Commuter Benefits portal.

What additional information is helpful to know?

• Unlike the annual medical and life benefits open enrollment period, you may enroll or change your enrollment in the pre-tax program monthly.
• By law, all transit passes purchased with pre-tax deductions are non-refundable
• Transit and parking pre-tax purchases can only be used for your commute.

*Effective January 1, 2025, eligible employees' monthly pre-tax transit and parking benefits are increased to $325.