CrimsonCard Standard Operating Procedures
SUBJECT
Departmental funding of CrimsonCard and Guest Card accounts
SOURCE
CrimsonCard Accounting, Office of the University Controller; CrimsonCard Operations, University Information Technology Services; University Tax Services; University Student Services and Systems
ORIGINAL DATE OF ISSUE
2020
DATE OF LAST REVISION
April 2022
RATIONALE
To determine who is eligible to receive University funds on their CrimsonCard accounts and/or additional CrimsonCard funding as part of a departmental program or request.
CCSOP
CrimsonCard administered stored value accounts receive additional funding requests by departments for multiple reasons. The purpose of this SOP is to outline proper reasons departments can use for funding CrimsonCard accounts, and any additional steps that may be required by the funding department to properly report the funds as taxable or additional student financial aid.
CrimsonCard accounts should not be used to provide University funds to an IU student. When providing University funds to an employee on their CrimsonCard, University Tax Services must be notified to ensure proper reporting is completed.
The department requesting the funds will also complete an attestation of compliance with this policy on the request form. When providing University funds to a non-IU student or employee participating in an IU program on their affiliate CrimsonCard or Guest Card, the individual must be notified that the funds they have received are considered financial aid or taxable and they must report it appropriately.
DEPOSITING FUNDS
Unallowable Reasons:
The following results in a department providing funds on a CrimsonCard account:
- Payment for goods or services placed on a student or employee CrimsonCard account.
- Payment for goods or services to parties outside of IU.
- Any upload outside of the methods below.
Allowable Reasons:
The following reasons for providing funds on a CrimsonCard account by a department are allowable:
Allowable Reason #1 - Nominal amounts for the purpose of completing certain aspects of an employee’s job responsibilities or visiting faculty.
Example #1 - Orientation or First Year Experience leaders with requirements to eat lunch while engaging in Q&A with prospective students.(This could be for employee or student leaders).
Example #2 - Visiting faculty being provided meals while visiting IU.
Required Reporting by Fiscal Officer - Funds can be deposited onto the card without additional reporting requirements because it is a cost of doing their job, an appropriate business expense.
Additional Reference Information - Must be business related and in compliance with the IRS Accountable Plan Guideline. Must be necessary, appropriate to their job, and serve a university purpose as detailed in TSOP 9.02.
Allowable Reason #2 - Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Programs to outside guests or affiliates participating in the program.
Example #1 - IU DSC REU Program with Guest Cards provided to Non-IU participants on campus for the summer program.
Required Reporting by Fiscal Officer - Non-IU participants must be notified, by the awarding department, the money they received on their CrimsonCard is considered part of a scholarship.
Additional Reference Information - IU student participants should continue to run through the SIS per TSOP 5.03. This would be an alternative to TSOP 5.03 only for Non-IU participants.
Allowable Reason #3 - Prizes or Awards, less than $100, from campus event.
Example #1 - Employees only.
Required Reporting by Fiscal Officer - The Awarding Department must notify the recipient of their tax reporting requirements on their personal tax return.
Additional Reference Information - Prize as defined in FIN-ACC 640. Please see TSOP 9.03 for prize policy. Prizes or Awards loaded to a student’s CrimsonCard or guest card is not permitted per the Student Payment Guidelines.
Allowable Reason #4 - Office of User Experience survey one-time disbursement to a CrimsonCard account may be completed without additional reporting requirements if the amount is less than $25.00.
Example #1 - Office of User Experience surveys randomly (person on the street style) and provides $5 on their CrimsonCard.
Example #2 - NSSE program with random surveys and providing $3 on their CrimsonCard.
Required Reporting by Fiscal Officer - The awarding department must notify the recipient of their tax reporting requirements on their personal tax return.
Additional Reference Information - Must be business related and in compliance with the IRS Accountable Plan Guidelines. Must be necessary, appropriate to the job, and serve a university purpose as detailed in TSOP 9.02.
These are the only allowable reasons for departments to upload funds via CrimsonCard unless an exception to this policy is granted. Please contact CrimsonCard Accounting (crimacct@iu.edu), University Tax Services (taxpayer@iu.edu) or completing the Contact Us form on the UCO website, or University Student Services and Systems (stephejl@iu.edu) for additional information or to request.
DEFINITIONS
CrimsonCard: Official ID card of the University. Every student, employee, or affiliate should have this.
Accounts: Any pre-funded deposit account (stored value) associated with CrimsonCard.
Guest Card: Anonymous card, generally for visitors to the University and not tied to a specific user. User identifying information is not stored and additional tracking is necessary by the sponsoring department.
Non-IU participant: Not an employee or student of Indiana University.
CROSS REFERENCES
TSOP 5.02 Service Component for Student Awards
TSOP 5.03 Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)
TSOP 9.02 Accountable Plan Reimbursements
TSOP 9.03 Taxable Prizes & Awards
IRS Accountable Plan Guidelines
IU Payment Cards - Information Matrix
RESPONSIBLE ORGANIZATION
CrimsonCard, University Tax Services, University Student Services, and Systems