As a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization, Boston University qualifies for Federal tax-exempt status. BU is exempt from paying Massachusetts state sales tax on the goods and services it purchases. BU also has sales tax exemptions in some other states.  Vendors might require the forms listed here.

Due to the withholding and reporting obligations set under Chapter 4 of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), Form 1042-S underwent substantial changes in 2014. The changes are designed to accommodate reporting of information relating to both Internal Revenue Code Chapter 3 withholding at source on payment to non-U.S. individuals and Chapter 4 FATCA information and reporting.

More information on the 1042S can be found here.

All cardholders were required to complete training in advance of receiving their Travel Card.  Due to an increase of incidents of non-compliance with Travel Card Policies and Procedures, it is strongly suggested that all cardholders retake the training as a refresher.

The training video can be found here.

Trainings for Ariba Guided BUying continue to be available, but a specific area of suggested training is in invoice approval.  A guide for this can be found here.

Additional resources/guides, as well as links to training session signups, can be found here.

Per IRS Regulations, gift cards are taxable to the recipient and must be reported as income to the IRS. In addition, because the IRS considers them to be cash equivalents, there is no de minimis value — that is, any value of gift card falls under this policy. All cash and cash equivalents must be reported on a tax return.

All gift cards must be purchased through Guided BUying. When the purchase is made, an attachment must be on the purchase requisition that includes the BUID for all students or employees receiving a gift card. Please remember that gift cards cannot be given in lieu of pay for work or as awards to employees. An overbase should be given as the payment method in such cases.

If the recipient is an employee of Boston University, the gift card amount will be added to the employee’s W-2 as additional income, and employer portions of FICA taxes owed on the card amount will be charged to the issuing department.  If the recipient is not an employee, the gift card amount will be reported on Form 1099-MISC. Only individuals that received over $600 in total in a year that are not BU Employees will receive a 1099-MISC.

Payroll and Payment Services will manually add gift card amounts to recipients’ W-2 or 1099.