Professional Development and Education

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Tax Treatment: Directly Related to Current Job is Non-Taxable
Applies to: Groups 1, 2 and 3¹

Non-Taxable

To be excluded from taxable wages, the working condition fringe benefits for professional and educational assistance reimbursements for governmental employees must be:

• Job-related and either necessary to maintain or improve current job skills or is required training or education by the It must be directly related to the employees’ current job classification.
• To be non-taxable, the educational course cannot be used to meet the minimum educational requirements of the current job or would otherwise qualify the employee for a new job outside of the job class.
• To be non-taxable, the expense must be incurred by the employee.

Examples of Non-Taxable Expenses

• Educational courses, seminars, or professional conferences that are directly job-related. A course qualifying an employee for a new position within the same or similar job class would be non-taxable. For example, an Account Clerk I enroll in an advanced accounting course to be able to be promoted to an Account Clerk II.
• All County sponsored or required training.
• Other educational expenses that qualify as non-taxable include registration, tuition, books, supplies and equipment for the job-related class, training or conference and travel, transportation, and temporary housing costs (hotel) to attend the class, training, or conference.

Examples of Taxable Expenses

• Educational courses are considered taxable if they are not directly job related, needed to meet the minimum educational requirements of the current job, or used to get a new job in a different job. For example, a Senior Office Assistant going to school to obtain an Associate of Arts degree in Science.
• Educational courses to acquire a license or special certification leading to a new job class. For example, an Accountant taking classes to become a Certified Public Accountant and an Account Clerk taking classes to become a Public Health Nurse or a Mechanic studying to become an Engineer.

Note: For County of Sonoma employees, working condition fringe benefits covered by this program are separate from training or other job-related tools, equipment or assistance provided by or paid directly by the County Department or other funding source. Depending on your union/association, items such as uniforms, tools and equipment may not be part of your fringe benefit allowance program but, rather, are provided directly through department funds, however, their taxability as a working condition fringe benefit remains the same.