Purchasing and Expensing Gift Cards

Purchasing Gift Cards:

1. For non-employee recipients: It is recommended that you purchase gift cards via the Blackhawk Network punchout catalog in UVA Marketplace. See Blackhawk Gift Card Punchout Resources.
   1. *Employees who participate in a clinical trial/study that would qualify them as ‘Human Subjects’ would be considered ‘non-employees’.
2. For employee recipients: It is required that you purchase gift cards with a University T&E Card. Employee gift cards should not be purchased via the Blackhawk Network punchout catalog or via a Purchase Order. They can be purchased from local or online vendors.
    

Expensing Gift Cards:

1. For non-employee recipients (including students and employees participating in a research study):  
   • After purchasing gift cards via the Blackhawk Network punchout catalog in UVA Marketplace (recommended):
     • Please use either of the following Spend Categories for your purchase (whichever is appropriate): (i) Gifts Non-Cash Non-Employee (SC0118), or (ii) Services Human Subject Payments (SC0210).
   • After purchasing gift cards with a University T&E Card:
     • Please use either of the following Expense Items for your purchase (whichever is appropriate): (i) Gift Card Non-Employee, or (ii) Human Subject Payments.
2. For employee recipients (including Medical Center or UPG employee recipients):
   • After purchasing gift cards with a University T&E Card, please use the following Expense Item for your purchase: 
     • Employee Award Taxable
     • Human Subject Payments (only for employees who are considered human subjects or research participants in a study)
        

Additional Notes:

• University employees are not allowed to purchase gift cards with personal funds and seek reimbursement.  
• If gift cards will be distributed to students, please seek approval from Student Financial Services prior to purchase.
• Documentation for Tax Purposes:
  • For non-employee recipients: Process TBD. 
    • If your specific gift card purchase has IRB guidelines that prevent you from tracking certain information (or any information in some cases), please follow those guidelines accordingly. It is the department's responsibility to complete 1099 reporting annually.
  • For employee recipients: All gift cards to employees will be taxed via the Expense module in Workday, as these purchases are required to be on a University T&E Card. Gift cards given to employees are taxable at any amount (with the exception of an employee participating in a clinical trial/study).