Section 125 Plans (cafeteria Plans)

Definition of "Section 125 plans (cafeteria plans)"

Shon McGuire real estate agent

Written by

Shon McGuireelite badge icon

Adams Cameron & Co. Realtors

Additions made by Congress in 1978 to the Internal Revenue Code that provide an employee benefit plan under which the employee makes an irrevocable decision to forego a portion of future income in exchange for receiving future benefits not subject to income tax at reception date. The employer deducts the cost of the employee's future benefits from present income as a business expense. These plans usually provide three options:

  1. Premium Conversion Employee contributes a proportionate share of the family health care costs with pre-tax dollars.
  2. Medical Reimbursement Account Employee is able to use a SALARY REDUCTION PLAN to pay with dollars on a pre-tax basis for medical expenses not covered by insurance; a separate medical reimbursement account is established for each employee.
  3. Dependent Care Reimbursement Account Employee is able to use a salary reduction plan to pay with dollars on a pre-tax basis for dependent care expenses.
An additional option sometimes provided for employees only (family members are excluded) is TERM LIFE INSURANCE for an amount up to $50,000 and DISABILITY INCOME INSURANCE. All employees must have equal access to the plans whether they are highly compensated or non highly compensated employees. Any monies left in the employee's account not used by the end of the year revert back to the company; this is known as the Use It or Lose It rule. As the employee incurs expenses, that employee applies for reimbursement through a form attached to the bill. When the administrator of the plan issues a check to the employee for the expenses, a statement is also provided that shows the amount remaining in the employee's account.

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Insurance Terms

Those states requiring insurers to obtain prior approval rating of rates and policy forms before they use them. Although most states once fell into this category, many followed the lead of ...

Conversion of form of ownership from a mutual insurance company to a stock insurance company. Interest in demutualization of life insurance companies surged in the early 1980s among many ...

Gain that occurs when the move in the underlying asset in one direction is similar to the loss when the underlying asset moves in the opposite direction. For example, if a stock goes up by ...

Fund that comes into existence because premiums for ordinary life insurance policies in their early years are higher than necessary for the pure cost of protection. These excess premiums, ...

Organization of inland marine insurance underwriters. ...

Major credit insurer of the early 20th century that merged into the London Guarantee and Accident Co. in 1931. ...

Base upon which a mortality table is built by beginning with a randomly selected group of people who are alive at the earliest age for which statistics are available on the number of people ...

Provision in an umbrella liability insurance policy under which the policy will pay those losses that come within the retention limits of the primary policy, but the primary policy cannot ...

Distribution of assets if a pension plan is terminated. The allocation is made by either: refunding all of an employee's contributions, plus interest; establishment of classes of employees ...

Popular Insurance Questions