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Domestic Partner Benefits

Find out how to use the Imputed Income and Taxes Worksheet to help determine the actual cost (imputed income) of eligible domestic partner benefits.

The University California offers eligible domestic partner benefits to eligible same-sex partners and some opposite sex domestic partners. These benefits include UC-sponsored medical, dental, and vision coverage.

Tax implications

Enrolling an eligible domestic partner (or a eligible domestic partner’s child or grandchild) can affect your taxable income. Because these family members aren't your federal tax dependents or legal spouse, the IRS considers UC'’s contribution to medical and dental coverage "imputed income."

Imputed income is subject to federal and California State income taxes, Social Security and Medicare taxes, and any other required payroll tax. See UCnet’s full description of imputed income.

Imputed Income and Taxes Worksheet

Use the Imputed Income and Taxes Worksheet (PDF) to determine the amount of imputed income associated with your medical and dental benefits. You will need your:

  • Full-time annual salary (viewable on UCPath)
  • Federal and state income tax rates (refer to a previous year tax return or contact your tax preparer)

Enrolling an eligible domestic partner

Read detailed eligibility and enrollment information in UC's Complete Guide to Health & Welfare Benefits (pg 5).

Anyone can enroll eligible family members during one of these events:

To update family status information and to enroll an eligible domestic partner in benefits outside of Open Enrollment, log in to UCPath and navigate to Employee Actions > Health & Welfare > Life Events/Benefit Changes.

Detailed information

Note: The vision plan isn't subject to imputed income since UC contributes the same amount for all employees and enrolled family members.

Note: This page has a friendly link that's easy to remember: http://blink.ucsd.edu/go/domesticpartners
Notice: The information on this page summarizes provisions of university policies and/or collective bargaining agreements. Refer to the Personnel Policies for Staff Members (PPSM) and local implementing procedures or applicable collective bargaining agreement for full text of referenced information.