NYC Commuter Benefits Calculator for 2026

Commuter benefits, under Section 132(f) of the tax code, let you pay for subway, bus, commuter rail, ferry and vanpool fares, and parking near work, out of your pay before tax. Payroll takes the amount out before it works out federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and New York State and City tax, and you spend it on fares through your employer's commuter benefit account.

New Jersey residents save less: New Jersey counts money set aside for transit as wages, so it saves federal and New York tax but not New Jersey tax. Connecticut follows the federal rules, so its residents save the full amount.

New York City requires employers with 20 or more full-time non-union employees in the city to offer pre-tax transit benefits, counting all their NYC locations together. Full time means an average of 30 or more hours a week, and the benefit has to be offered once an employee has worked full time for four weeks. Government employers are exempt, and so are employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement.

$150 a month in fares for a single New York City resident paid every two weeks. The saving follows your top tax rates, so it grows with salary until pay passes the $184,500 Social Security wage base; above it, money set aside no longer saves Social Security.