Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)
Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)
Throughout this section, unless otherwise stated, reference to "Company" or "PG&E" means Pacific Gas and Electric Company. For plans sponsored by PG&E Corporation, reference to "Company" or "PG&E" means PG&E Corporation. The plans and benefits described in this section are also applicable to employees of designated subsidiaries and affiliates, but only to the extent that such entities are participating employers with respect to the described plans or programs and such employees meet the eligibility requirements of the plans or programs.
The IRS allows you to pay for certain health care and dependent care services with before-tax dollars, which means these services can actually cost you less. You can enjoy this tax advantage by setting up flexible spending accounts (FSAs) each year.
For IRS purposes, your deposits are not technically "paid" to you before going into the accounts, so they bypass all income tax withholding. Therefore, federal income taxes, Social Security taxes, Medicare taxes and most state income taxes are not withheld from any of these deposits, nor are any such taxes due when the money is used to pay for eligible expenses.
In addition to the information in this section, there is also important information about your benefits in other parts of this Handbook. Be sure to review the About this Handbook section, the Benefits at a Glance section, the What If… section, and the Rules, Regulations & Administrative Information section.
Note that the Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (DCFSA) is not subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).