Taxes on Well-being Gift Cards Now Withheld Monthly, Beginning May 24

One of the perks of the CHI Wellness Program is that you can redeem earned wellness dollars for gift card(s), when you complete healthy activities.

The IRS considers these gift card dollars taxable income, which means you need to pay applicable taxes for any gift card(s) you redeem from your participation in the CHI Wellness Program.

In the past, we included your* gift card(s), from throughout the year, as income on your paycheck starting in December. To ensure a better experience, we want to prevent these taxes from coming out of your paycheck around Christmas time.

Moving forward, beginning on your May 24 paycheck, redeemed wellness gift card(s) from the month prior, will be included as income on your paycheck so applicable taxes can be calculated and withheld. Specifically, for the May 24 paycheck, we will include any gift card(s) you redeemed in 2019 through the end of April. In future months, you will be taxed on any outstanding amount of gift card(s) that have been redeemed month-to-month.

For more information or to see a year-to-date statement of your redeemed wellness dollars, visit the wellness website and click on “Rewards” and select “Statement.”

*Gift card(s) redeemed by a spouse for participation in the CHI Wellness Program will be included in the employees’ paycheck as taxable income and will be taxed appropriately.