To: University Business Managers, MOU Financial Leads, HR Officers and Secondary Contacts
From: Linc Butler, Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resources, Ann Lemmon, Assistant Provost for Academic Personnel, Walter Miller, Director of Payroll Services
Re: Update to 1270 and 1270.1 Employee Moving Expense Reimbursement Policy and Procedure
Based on legislation changes in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the University is making required changes to its moving expense reimbursements policy and procedure, effective July 1, 2018. The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act no longer allows employers to provide moving expense reimbursements tax free, and no longer allows employees to deduct moving expenses.
Effective July 1, 2018, per policy 1270, Employee Moving Expense Reimbursement, and procedure 1270.1, Employee Moving Expense Reimbursements, departments must submit moving expense reimbursements via a lump sum payment ePAR. The “Moving Expense Reimbursement” Lump Sum ePAR payment type will be available via ConnectCarolina July 1. Receipts for reasonable moving expenses should be attached to the ePAR as documentation. The ePAR payment amount is the total amount of receipts increased by 30 percent to assist with the tax impact. The payment amount, including the 30 percent increase, cannot exceed the amount specified in the offer letter. An example of this calculation is provided in procedure1270.1. Due to changes in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Acts, direct payments to vendors on behalf of the employee are no longer allowed.
Policy 1270 and procedure 1270.1 should be reviewed in coordination with the Office of Human Resources policy on Non-Salary & Deferred Compensation. Offer letter templates available in the EHRA Non-Faculty Manager Toolkit have been updated to reflect this new guidance.
As this tax change to a reimbursement process affects employee recruitment in a substantial way, this revision has been a coordinated effort among Payroll Services, Accounts Payable, Procurement, Tax Counsel, the Office of Human Resources and the Office of Academic Personnel.
Please review policy 1270 and procedure 1270.1 and direct any payroll-related questions to payroll@unc.edu. We have addressed campus concerns in FAQs and throughout the documents as much as possible, but will update as needed based on the questions we receive. Please direct questions concerning offer letters to the Office of Human Resources for EHRA Non-Faculty or Academic Personnel Office for Faculty.