A blog on the latest news and events for ACU faculty and staff
You can create an online account with HSA Bank and access many great tools:
It’s not to late to track your participation in the Spring Into Shape Challenge from March 1-31! The goal of the challenge is to accumulate minutes of physical activity throughout the month. Track your participation online on your wellness portal or by using the paper Challenge Tracking Form on the home page of your wellness portal. Record or submit your challenge participation by April 15th to receive 1 Wellness Point!
On March 5, 2018, the IRS release Revenue Procedure 2018-18 to announce changes to certain tax limits for 2018, including a reduced contribution limit for health savings accounts (HSA’s). The IRS reduced the HSA contribution limit for 2018 for individuals with family HDHP (high deductible health plan) coverage by $50 to $6,850. All other HSA and HDHP limits for 2018 remain the same. Employees whose HSA contributions will exceed the limit have two options:
1. ACU will automatically decrease your last deduction of 2018 by $50 to accommodate the change in the limit, OR
2. You can complete a new HSA Contribution Form.
The IRS has released an updated tax withholding calculator on IRS.gov and issued a new Form W-4 Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate, which has the new calculation information included. Employees can use the online calculator to check their 2018 tax withholding following the passage of the TaxCuts and Jobs Act in December.
The IRS also posted new Withholding Calculator Frequently Asked Questions. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made changes to the tax law, including increasing the standard deduction, removing personal exemptions, increasing the child tax credit, limiting or discontinuing certain deductions, and changing the tax rates and income brackets.
If you determine that you would like to change your withholding allowance, you can do so by going to your myACU Banner link, then select Employee, Tax Forms, W-4 Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate, and then choose the Update link along the bottom of the screen.
Please be advised that ACU Human Resources cannot provide any tax advice. If you require additional assistance, please consult your tax professional.
It is never to early to start earning your wellness credits for this year. The current wellness program is already underway. Check out the Wellness Program Overview and Wellness Program FAQ documents on your wellness portal today for all of the details! Login to your GPA member account at www.gpatpa.com and click Wellness. Get an early start on the 4 wellness points needed (in addition to your annual exam) in order to earn the full premium discount for next year. All requirements will need to be completed by Sept. 30, 2018, to receive the full wellness incentives for 2019. Read more about the wellness program on the HR Wellness FAQ Link.
We are working on competing these forms and will notify employees once they are available. Please note that you do not have to wait to file your 2017 tax return if you are receiving a 1095-C. You can find more information HERE.
Since the HRA plan closed on December 31, 2017, the line of credit you had available on your Benny Card is no longer active. If you had claims that were incurred in 2017 and have not paid those yet and you still had credit in your HRA, you have until March 1, 2018 to file for a reimbursement from your account. If you have any questions, please contact Elsa Dunson at edunson@holmesmurphy.com or Human Resources.
All employees that are covered under ACU’s medical plan will receive new GPA medical ID cards. You should expect to receive these by the end of this week. If you need to pick up a prescription before you receive your new card, please give the pharmacy the following information:
With the upcoming Christmas holiday, this is a good time to review your holiday balance. It is important that employees track holiday hours appropriately. Employees are given a holiday bank to cover all official ACU holidays for a calendar year. It is the employee’s responsibility to record their hours accordingly. If your holiday leave balance is already depleted, it is up to you to research how you reported holiday hours on your time sheet or leave report. If a nonexempt employees enters holiday hours on their time sheet, but has no remaining holiday balance, Banner will automatically dock their pay for those hours.
Visit the HR web page, Employee Benefits, to see a full description of your Holiday Benefit. All holidays should be taken on the designated day(s) according to the university’s observed Holiday Calendar. This applies to all full-time, reduced full-time, and half-time staff employees. Your holiday balance is calculated on a calendar year basis and you are given a balance for the ACU holidays from Jan 1 – Dec 31 each year. As a reminder, your holiday balance does not roll over into the new year.
