Gift Cards

Gift card purchases must be compliant with University of California policy and procedures. Prior to purchasing gift cards, it is important to note the following:

• Familiarize yourself with G-41 Employee Non-Cash Awards and Other Gifts and G-42 Gifts Presented to Non-Employees on Behalf of the University policies for more specific guidance on gift card award, gift limits, and restrictions.
• Per policy, the recipient of the gift cards should use the card for purchases of goods ONLY, and NOT used for any services offered by a company.
• For tax reporting purposes, gift cards given to individuals (non-employee) totaling $600 or more in a calendar year should be reported to Supplier Registration via an email to the [email protected] no later than December 31 of each year. Please be sure to include the following information:
  • Full legal name (first and last)
  • Mailing address
  • Social Security number
  • Payment amount
  • Subject line: SECURE
• Due to special taxation, gift cards should not be given to foreign individuals. Payments for foreign research participants can be submitted through the Check Request Form.
• Taxable gifts to employees are generally exceptions to policy and should be avoided. In the rare instance where departments present a taxable gift to an employee, departments are responsible for reporting the tax to the Controller’s Office within 30 days of the employee receiving the taxable gift. See more on gift policies and employee tax reporting instructions on the pages below:
  • SCM Awards and Gifts Presented to Employees
  • Controller’s Office Understanding Taxability on Employee Non-Cash Awards and Gifts

Department Responsibilities

UCSF departments purchasing gift cards are solely responsible for safeguarding, tracking, distributing, and overseeing their use. By purchasing gift cards, departments:

• Ensure that there is an appropriate business purpose for the purchase of gift cards and for adhering to all applicable guidelines and policies.
• Are solely responsible for protecting personal information when providing recipient details (e.g., name and email) to gift card suppliers, such as Tango, in accordance with all relevant privacy and compliance policies.
  • For student recipients, departments are responsible for complying with UC Policies and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and obtaining any required consent before sharing information with gift card suppliers.  
  • For research participants, ensure compliance with privacy and payment policies. For more information, review the Human Research Protection Program IRB guidelines on research participant payments.

Coming July 23, 2025

The Tango punch-out catalog is available in BearBuy for ordering digital gift cards for Employee Gift Cards (for Recognition, Prizes, etc) and Non-Employee Gift Cards (for Research Participants, Volunteers, Guests, etc.). Tango is a digital rewards and incentives platform that offers flexibility in purchasing digital gift cards in various quantities and denominations.

Tango User Guides

• Learn how to order, cancel, or redeem using the Tango User Guide
• Tango Redemption Options

For physical gift cards, please see Amazon Business P-Card Portal below.

Individual and bulk physical gift cards can be purchased using the Amazon Business P-Card portal. If you have access to a UCSF Procurement Card (p-card), please use the UCSF Amazon Business P-Card Portal for gift card purchases.   

Note: Business-related gift card purchases can be made with your UCSF P-Card using the UCSF Amazon Business P-Card portal or other stores and suppliers accepting credit cards. 

Learn how to apply for a p-card at UCSF P-Card Program. 

Supply Chain Management recommends the use of UCSF Greenphire ClinCard to pay research study participants.

Gift cards for research study participants can be purchased through the following channels: 

• Tango is the preferred method to purchase digital gift cards. See Tango section above for details
  • Note: Research participant names and email addresses must be provided for recipients to receive gift cards. See department responsibilities for staying in compliance with policies.
  • Amazon Business P-Card Portal can be used to purchase physical gift cards.
    • If your department does not have a p-card and you require gift cards to support research activities, we have temporarily made your SCM department-assigned buyer available to facilitate the purchase of gift cards. Please reach out to them directly. To prepare for high demand, we encourage you to consolidate purchases into bulk orders when possible.  

For purchasing or compliance questions, please submit a ticket to the SCM Response Team. 

For questions about Tango orders, please contact Tango at [email protected]. 

If reward recipients have any questions about a reward they have already received. Please refer the recipient to help.tangocard.com.