As part of our ongoing efforts to share information, the UET Online Magazine features important announcements on events and learning opportunities for bargaining unit employees. Listed below are links to specific timely information for UET Members. Create or update your User Profile by clicking MyUET to receive program updates and the UET Online Magazine by e-mail.
Use one, avoid paying needlessly on the other
The old cliché has it that taxes are inevitable, but in the case of educational assistance, they aren’t. Taxes on educational assistance are complex, but the Union Education Trust has made it easy to apply for a tax exemption.
Taxable educational benefits have a 30-year history of confusion, changes, and different applications. The IRS code on taxing educational assistance affects all Union Education Trust members.
Read more here.
At the State of Ohio, taxes on educational assistance as an issue came to a head last fall when the Ohio Administrative Knowledge System (OAKS) took the taxes out of UET participants’ paychecks in one lump sum – right at holiday time! OCSEA’s Union Education Trust and the State of Ohio worked together to apply the tax fairly and legally, earning the vast majority of impacted members a refund.
Read more here.
Once that was resolved, the UET staff knew that a permanent fix was needed. Again working with the State, the UET developed a process to ensure that bargaining unit employees do not pay taxes on work-related courses, which are exempt from income taxes.
Read more here.
What that means for UET participants is evaluating how they are using their UET benefits to decide if they should apply for the tax exemption. The UET has prepared resources that will help bargaining unit employees to determine whether or not they should use this new simple process.
Read more here.
One focus of the UET program is education for members to improve the quality of their worklife now and in the future. Educating ourselves on the tax implications of educational assistance is one more way to accomplish this objective.
Download and print the Educational Benefit Tax Exemption Form
Download and print the FAQ Sheet & Flowchart