Cafeteria plan contribution money type

[amcorson]

I do not deal with cafeteria plans very often and need some clarification. An employer has a cafeteria plan that they make contributions to. Some of the employees put a portion of these contributions into the profit sharing / 401(k) plan. What is the correct money type for these contributions and how do the tax implications come into play?

For example, some employees elect to put the cafeteria plan contribution into the plan and also have a separate 401(k) election. Would the cafeteria contributions also be considered employee deferrals? If so, are the two contributions taxed differently with regard to FICA and FUTA? I don't think they would be considered nonelective ER contributions.

[Guest JimD-EBR]

The contributions from the cafeteria plan to the 401(k)/PSP would be employee deferrals and taxed the same as deferrals made directly to the 401(k)/PSP.