Benefits
The benefit object in Gusto contains high level information about a particular benefit type and its tax considerations. When companies choose to offer a benefit, they are creating a Company Benefit object associated with a particular benefit.
Attributes
Attribute | Type | Read-Only | Optional | Default | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
id |
Integer | X | the unique identifier of this benefit | ||
name |
String | X | name of this benefit | ||
description |
String | X | description of this benefit | ||
pretax |
Boolean | X | whether the benefit is deducted before tax calculations, thus reducing one’s taxable income | ||
posttax |
Boolean | X | whether the benefit is deducted after tax calculations | ||
imputed |
Boolean | X | whether the benefit is considered imputed income | ||
healthcare |
Boolean | X | whether the benefit is healthcare related | ||
retirement |
Boolean | X | whether the benefit is associated with retirement planning | ||
yearly_limit |
Boolean | X | whether the benefit has a government mandated yearly limit |
Get all supported benefits
HTTP Method: GET
Endpoint: /v1/benefits
Returns: All benefits supported by Gusto
Sample Response Body:
[
{
"id": 1,
"name": "Medical Insurance",
"description": "Deductions and contributions for Medical Insurance",
"pretax": true,
"posttax": false,
"imputed": false,
"retirement": false,
"healthcare": false,
"yearly_limit": false
}
]
Note for S-Corporations
An update to Gusto’s payroll engine in October, 2017, has pushed the responsibility of understanding how benefits should be taxed for 2% shareholders of S-Corporations onto the engine itself. Previously, Payroll Administrators had to associate 2% shareholders with posttax
medical, dental, and vision benefits in order to tax those employees correctly (2% shareholders are not eligible for pre-tax deductions, and contributions are treated as imputed wages). That is no longer the case.
Now, S-Corp Payroll Administrators should associate all 2% shareholders to pretax
medical, dental, and vision benefits through our Employee Benefits API. When payroll runs, Gusto will automatically determine whether to treat the benefit as pretax
or posttax
based on an employee’s 2% shareholder status.