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Benefits October 11, 2011
Bank of America to Reimburse Employees for Partner Insurance Tax
October 11, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Bank of America announced it will reimburse gay employees who insure same-sex partners for the extra federal taxes they pay on health coverage.
Reported by Tara Cantore
According to an article in the Charlotte Observer, the program is part of the company’s open enrollment for health, medical, and dental insurance this month. It will go into effect next year.
Currently, for heterosexual married couples, employer-paid health benefits for spouses are non-taxable, and employees can use pre-tax dollars to pay premiums. But for gay couples, the benefits are taxable and premiums must be paid with after-tax money.
In addition to providing this benefit for its employees’ partners, the DTCC recently announced it is supporting legislation that would end taxation for health insurance benefits for domestic partners (see DTCC Offers New Benefit for Employees with Same-Sex Partners).