An eligible spending window is the time period during which you can use your pre-tax benefit funds for qualifying expenses. This window is determined by your plan year and any additional periods your employer may offer.

How to find your eligible spending window

The best way to find your eligible spending window is to:

1. Log into your Benepass account
2. Navigate to the Accounts section
3. Select your specific benefit
4. View the "Plan timeline" section to see your eligible spending window, runout period, and rollover details.

How it works

Pre-tax benefits like Health Care FSAs, Limited Purpose FSAs (LPFSA), and Dependent Care FSAs (DCFSA) benefits operate on a plan year schedule. The plan year is the 12-month period set by your employer during which your elected benefits are active.

During this period, your benefit is active and your funds can be spent on any eligible purchases. Once your plan year ends, what happens to unused funds depends on your employer's plan design, and will determine what your eligible spending window is.

What to know

Your eligible spending window is determined by the end of year options configured for your specific benefit. 

End-of-year options

• Use-it-or-lose-it: Without any extensions, unused funds in your FSA are forfeited at the end of the plan year.
• Rollover option: Some benefits and employers allow a certain amount of unused funds to carry over to the next year, up to an IRS determined maximum.
• Grace period: Instead of a rollover, some employers offer a grace period—additional time after the plan year ends to incur new eligible expenses using your previous year's funds. A grace period will extend your benefit's eligible spending window.

Run-out period

A run-out period is different from a grace period. A run-out period gives you additional time to submit claims for expenses that were incurred during the plan year. During this period, you cannot incur new expenses, but you can submit receipts for eligible expenses that occurred during the active plan year.