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IRS: What Employers Need to Know About Repayment of Deferred Payroll Taxes

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The IRS has provided guidance on the repayment of the deferred employee’s social security.  This guidance was provided in the e-News for Payroll professionals March 26, 2021 newsletter. 

The Background

To give people a needed temporary financial boost, the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act allowed employers to defer payment of the employer’s share of Social Security tax. IRS Notice 2020-65 PDF allowed employers to defer withholding and payment of the employee’s Social Security taxes on certain wages paid in calendar year 2020. Employers must pay back these deferred taxes by their applicable dates.

The employee deferral applied to people with less than $4,000 in wages every two weeks, or an equivalent amount for other pay periods. It was optional for most employers, but it was mandatory for federal employees and military service members.

Repayment of the employee’s portion of the deferral started January 1, 2021 and will continue through December 31, 2021. Payments made by January 3, 2022, will be timely because December 31, 2021, is a holiday. The employer should send repayments to the IRS as they collect them. If the employer does not repay the deferred portion on time, penalties and interest will apply to any unpaid balance.

Employees should see their deferred taxes in the withholdings from their pay. They can check with their organization’s payroll office for details on the collection schedule.

How to repay the deferred taxes

Employers can make the deferral payments through the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System or by credit or debit card, money order or with a check. These payments must be separate from other tax payments to ensure they applied to the deferred payroll tax balance. IRS systems won’t recognize the payment if it is with other tax payments or sent as a deposit.

EFTPS will soon have a new option to select deferral payment. The employer selects deferral payment and then changes the date to the applicable tax period for the payment. Employers can visit EFTPS.gov, or call 800-555-4477 or 800-733-4829 for details.

If the employee no longer works for the organization, the employer is responsible for repayment of the entire deferred amount. The employer must collect the employee’s portion using their own recovery methods.

What the IRS Thinks You Need to Know About Repayment of Deferred Payroll Taxes

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The IRS published in its e-News for Tax Professionals on March 13th the following guidance on repaying of the employee 2020 deferred social security taxes in 2021.  This update includes the provisions of the American Rescue Plan Act signed by President Biden.

The Coronavirus, Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act allowed employers to defer payment of the employer’s share of Social Security tax. IRS Notice 2020-65 allowed employers to defer withholding and payment of the employee’s Social Security taxes on certain wages paid in calendar year 2020. Employers must pay back these deferred taxes by their applicable dates.

The employee deferral applied to people with less than $4,000 in wages every two weeks, or an equivalent amount for other pay periods. It was optional for most employers, but it was mandatory for federal employees and military service members. Repayment of the employee’s portion of the deferral started Jan. 1, 2021, and will continue through Dec. 31, 2021. Payments made by Jan 3, 2022, will be timely because Dec. 31, 2021, is a holiday. The employer should send repayments to the IRS as they collect them. If the employer does not repay the deferred portion on time, penalties and interest will apply to any unpaid balance.

Employers can make the deferral payments through the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) or by credit or debit card, money order or with a check. These payments must be separate from other tax payments to ensure they are applied to the deferred payroll tax balance. IRS systems won’t recognize the payment if it is with other tax payments or sent as a deposit. EFTPS will soon have a new option to select deferral payment. The employer selects deferral payment and then changes the date to the applicable tax period for the payment. Employers can visit  EFTPS.gov, or call 800-555-4477 or 800-733-4829 for details.

If the employee no longer works for the organization, the employer is responsible for repayment of the entire deferred amount. The employer must collect the employee’s portion using their own recovery methods.

Join us on March 24, 2021 at 10:00 am Pacific for this information-packed webinar

Be sure to register for our first payroll lecture/webinar of the year.  The topic is the 2021 Form 941 and is being held on Wednesday, March 24th starting at 10:00 am Pacific.  Click here for more details and to register.  Use coupon code CJYFRQA6 at check out to receive a 10% discount as a Payroll 24/7 BLOG FOLLOWER.  The webinar is pending approval by the APA for 1.5 RCHs.

 

IRS Advises on Filing new Form 941-X

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The latest version of Form 941-X and its instructions are now in the draft stage. Although scheduled to be finalized in late September the IRS has issued some advice concerning using the form. This advice appeared in the e-news for Payroll Professionals issued on August 25 and states:

The newest version of the Form 941-X (to allow for corrections to the new lines added to the Quarter 2 Form 941) is expected in late September. In the meantime, for 2020:

  1. If adjusting Quarter 1 or earlier, you may use the existing Form 941-X.
  2. If adjusting Quarter 2 (or later) and not making any increase or decrease to the employer share of social security tax or to any of the new COVID-related lines that were added to the Quarter 2 Form 941, the IRS strongly recommends not using the existing Form 941-X, but rather waiting for the new Form 941-X revision to be released.
  3. If adjusting Quarter 2 (or later) and making any increase or decrease to the employer share of social security tax, or to any of the new COVID-related lines, do not use the existing Form 941-X; instead, wait for the new Form 941-X revision.
  4. Please do not send a Form 941 with “Amended” (or similar notation) written on the form.

If you have already done either of 3-4 above, wait for correspondence to find out if the IRS was able to process the tax return or had to reject it. Given the backlog of paper forms and correspondence due to COVID-19, the IRS is unable to estimate when correspondence will go out.

 

Making Sense of COVID-19 FAQs Part 1

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Since the pandemic of COVID-19 began I have been getting a tremendous amount of questions about the different tax credits and how those tax credits relate to the Form 941. Although I posted quite a few blog items concerning these credits I thought what I might do now is go through the different FAQs that are on the IRS website and take a closer look at specific information the IRS has provided. Over the next several blogs I will pick one or two of the FAQs and discuss them and how they affect payroll and/or the 941 form. I am not going to be covering them in numerical order but rather picking the ones that I think are the most relevant to the questions I have been receiving. I will give the FAQ number and under what topic they can be found, as well as the link if you want more information. One bad thing about the FAQs on this website is if they do jump around quite a bit. You start off at question four and then must wander off to question 44 to get the remainder of the answer. So, what I am going to try to do is put it all in one place. Today’s blog gets us started with our first question.

Under the IRS topic Covid-19-Related Tax Credits: General Information FAQs. FAQ number 4 deals with documentation. The question reads:

What documentation must an eligible employer retain to substantiate eligibility to claim the tax credits?

In this case the question is asking about the tax credits under the paid family leave and paid sick leave along with the allocable qualified health plan expenses and the eligible employer share of Medicare taxes. In answering this question, the IRS is not giving us any specifics when it comes to the type of records that we need to maintain. They simply list the normal records that we would maintain in a payroll department including Form 941. However, they do refer to another FAQ, specifically number 44 under the IRS Topic Covid-19-Related Tax Credits: How To Substantiate Eligibility And Periods Of Time For Which Credits Are Available FAQs. But to truly answer the question we not only need number 44 but also number 45 and number 46 under this topic.

Number 44 reads: what information should an eligible employer received from an employee and maintain to substantiate eligibility for the sick leave our family leave credits? The answer provided is as follows: An Eligible Employer will substantiate eligibility for the sick leave or family leave credits if the employer receives a written request for such leave from the employee in which the employee provides:

  1. The employee’s name
  2. The date or dates for which leave is requested
  3. A statement of the COVID-19 related reason the employee is requesting leave and written support for such reason
  4. A statement that the employee is unable to work, including by means of telework, for such reason.

In the case of a leave request based on a quarantine order or self-quarantine advice, the statement from the employee should include the name of the governmental entity ordering quarantine or the name of the health care professional advising self-quarantine, and, if the person subject to quarantine or advised to self-quarantine is not the employee, that person’s name and relation to the employee.

In the case of a leave request based on a school closing or child care provider unavailability, the statement from the employee should include the name and age of the child (or children) to be cared for, the name of the school that has closed or place of care that is unavailable, and a representation that no other person will be providing care for the child during the period for which the employee is receiving family medical leave and, with respect to the employee’s inability to work or telework because of a need to provide care for a child older than fourteen during daylight hours, a statement that special circumstances exist requiring the employee to provide care.

But that still does not tell us exactly what that documentation should look like. That is addressed in question number 45, which reads: what additional records should an eligible employer maintained to substantiate eligibility for the sick leave or family leave credit? This answer gets down to the actual documentation from the payroll system. The employer would need to create and maintain records that include the documentation to show how the employer determine the amount of qualified second family leave wages paid to employees are eligible for the credit, including records of work, telework and qualified sick leave and qualified family leave. The documentation should also show how the employer determine the amount of qualified health plan expenses that the employer allocated to those wages. This of course is in addition to the completed 941 form and any copies of Form 7200. These records could come from your payroll system directly via a report, or if that is not possible, an Excel spreadsheet.

Finally question number 46 deals with record retention time limits. Covid-19 related records fall under the same category as all other employment tax records. This is basically four years plus current.

Making Sense of All the Employer Tax Credits for 2020

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The IRS is attempting to provide as much information on the various tax credits available to employers during the COVID-19 pandemic.  In its latest bid to streamline the information, the IRS has issued Publication 5419, New Employer Tax Credits.  The flowchart style publication can be found on the IRS website.  The chart breaks the tax credits into two sections.  The first section is on the Employee Retention Credit portion.  It explains the purpose of the credit…to encourage employers to keep employees on their payroll…the amount of the credit…50%…and who is eligible for the credit…all employers regardless of size, but not governments or businesses who received a PPP loan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Page 2 of the chart outlines the leave credits for paid sick leave and paid family leave.  This applies to employers with 500 or less employees.

For more info or details on these credits see the IRS website.

Avoiding Common Errors When Filing Form 7200

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In news for tax professionals and small businesses, the IRS has advised those who are beginning to deal with Form 7200, Advance Payment of Employer Credits Due to COVID-19 to do so carefully to avoid making error when completing the new form.  Mistakes in completing the form can lead to processing delays, which in turn delays the IRS approving the credits.

Background: The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security or CARES Act both provide refundable tax credits for the employer.  FFCRA requires employers (of a certain size) to provide paid sick leave or paid family leave.  To offset the cost of this leave, the employer is permitted to take refundable tax credits against employment taxes.  The CARES Act permits the employer to take a “employee retention credit” equal to 50% of “qualified wages”.  This is also offset against employment taxes. However, it is possible for these credits to exceed the employer’s actual tax deposits.  In this case, the employer is permitted to receive the excess paid leave credits or the employee retention credit in advance by using Form 7200.

 

However, the IRS has noted some common errors or mistakes in filling out the form, slowing the process.  The errors to avoid include:

  • Missing or inaccurate Employer Identification Number (EIN). Each EIN on a tax return should be exact.
  • Checking more than one box for applicable calendar quarter. Only one box should be checked for the correct quarter.
  • Check more than one box for Part 1, Line A. Likewise, only one box should be checked in Part 1, Line A.
  • Skipping Part 1, Line B. Complete Part 1, Line B. In Part 1, Line B check either “Yes” or “No”.
  • Not fully completing Part II. Complete all the lines in Part II. This identifies which credits are being claimed.
  • Not completing Part II, Lines 1-8. Part II should be completed using dollar amounts, not the number of eligible employees. All lines in Part II should be completed with an actual dollar amount.
  • Inputting the number of eligible employees on lines in Part 2, instead of dollar amounts.
  • Not checking the math on lines 4, 7 and 8 (i.e., subtracting instead of adding or vice versa)
  • Not signing the form (automatic rejection)
  • Wrong individual signing the form
    • Sole proprietorship—The individual who owns the business.
    • Corporation (including a limited liability company (LLC) treated as a corporation)—The president, vice president, or other principal officer duly authorized to sign.
    • Partnership (including an LLC treated as a partnership) or unincorporated organization—A responsible and duly authorized partner, member, or officer having knowledge of its affairs.
    • Single-member LLC treated as a disregarded entity for federal income tax purposes—The owner of the LLC or a principal officer duly authorized to sign.
    • Trust or estate—The fiduciary.

Also, Form 7200 may be signed by a duly authorized agent of the Eligible Employer if a valid Form 2848 (Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative) has been filed.

For more information about Form 7200 and its use can be found on IRS.gov: About Form 7200, Advance Payment of Employer Credits Due to COVID-19.

FAQs Keeping Pace With COVID-19 Questions

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As questions pour into the Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service from employers on the Families First Act and the CARES Act, both agencies are updating their respective FAQs.  Here are the latest updates:

 

Department of Labor:

DOL has added four FAQs, #90-#93, concerning paid family leave or paid leave. These are:

  • FAQ #90 explains whether paid leave requirements under FFCRA apply to temporary workers. A temporary service with over 500 employees is not required to provide leave to its employees. However, the business with fewer than 500 employees where the temporary worker is placed may be required to if it is a joint employer.
  • FAQ #91 addresses whether an employee who has been teleworking is entitled to paid sick or family leave for a school closure when schools have been closed for the past four weeks during the teleworking period. The DOL explains the fact the teleworking employee did not request paid leave during the teleworking period does not exclude the employee from taking such leave.
  • FAQ #92 describes what kind of documentation an employer is permitted to require from an employee who is seeking a medical diagnosis related to COVID-19 symptoms. The DOL explains an employer may require the employee to identify their symptoms and provide a date for a test or doctor’s appointment. However, no further documentation or certification is required. FMLA related leave requests are subject to FMLA documentation requirements.
  • FAQ #93 clarifies that workers who have taken paid sick and paid family leave due to a school closure may not continue to take paid family leave when the school year ends for summer vacation. However, the employee can take paid family leave on the basis that the child’s childcare provider or summer camp is closed or unavailable during the summer due to COVID-19.

Internal Revenue Service:

  • The Internal Revenue Service updated FAQs #64 and #65 regarding the COVID-19 Employee Retention Credit for how eligible employers treat health care expenses.
  • Notice 2020-29 provides for increased flexibility with respect to mid-year elections made under a § 125 cafeteria plan during calendar year 2020 related to employer-sponsored health coverage, health Flexible Spending Arrangements (health FSAs), and dependent care assistance programs. The notice also provides increased flexibility with respect to grace periods to apply unused amounts in health FSAs to medical care expenses incurred through December 31, 2020, and unused amounts in dependent care assistance programs to dependent care expenses incurred through December 31, 2020.
  • Notice 2020-33 increases the $500 limit for unused amounts remaining in a health flexible spending arrangement (health FSA) that may be carried over into the following year by making the carryover amount 20 percent of the maximum salary reduction amount under § 125(i), which is indexed for inflation. This calculation had been the basis for the $500 limit under Notice 2013-71, but the $500 limit did not incorporate the indexing. Thus, for 2020, under this new notice the carryover amount will increase to $550.  The notice cross references Notice 2020-29 for guidance on how a § 125 cafeteria plan may be amended to allow prospective health FSA election changes for the 2020 calendar year. Notice 2020-29 provides relief in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that, among other things, permits employers to amend § 125 cafeteria plans to provide participants flexibility to change health FSA contribution elections at such times as the employer permits through the end of 2020, provided that any changes are applied only prospectively.

 

IRS Reminder of COVID-19 Credits

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In their latest issue, IR-2020-89, the Internal Revenue Service is reminding businesses of the three new credits that are available to many businesses hit by COVID-19. To recap, these are:

Employee Retention Credit:

The employee retention credit is designed to encourage businesses to keep employees on their payroll. The refundable tax credit is 50% of up to $10,000 in wages paid by an eligible employer whose business has been financially impacted by COVID-19. The credit is available to all employers regardless of size, including tax-exempt organizations. There are only two exceptions: State and local governments and their instrumentalities and small businesses who take small business loans.

Qualifying employers must fall into one of two categories:

  1. The employer’s business is fully or partially suspended by government order due to COVID-19 during the calendar quarter.
  2. The employer’s gross receipts are below 50% of the comparable quarter in 2019. Once the employer’s gross receipts go above 80% of a comparable quarter in 2019, they no longer qualify after the end of that quarter.

Employers will calculate these measures each calendar quarter.

Paid Sick Leave Credit and Family Leave Credit:

The paid sick leave credit is designed to allow business to get a credit for an employee who is unable to work (including telework) because of Coronavirus quarantine or self-quarantine or has Coronavirus symptoms and is seeking a medical diagnosis. Those employees are entitled to paid sick leave for up to 10 days (up to 80 hours) at the employee’s regular rate of pay up to $511 per day and $5,110 in total.

The employer can also receive the credit for employees who are unable to work due to caring for someone with Coronavirus or caring for a child because the child’s school or place of care is closed, or the paid childcare provider is unavailable due to the Coronavirus. Those employees are entitled to paid sick leave for up to two weeks (up to 80 hours) at 2/3 the employee’s regular rate of pay or, up to $200 per day and $2,000 in total.

Employees are also entitled to paid family and medical leave equal to 2/3 of the employee’s regular pay, up to $200 per day and $10,000 in total. Up to 10 weeks of qualifying leave can be counted towards the family leave credit.

Employers can be immediately reimbursed for the credit by reducing their required deposits of payroll taxes that have been withheld from employees’ wages by the amount of the credit.

Eligible employers are entitled to immediately receive a credit in the full amount of the required sick leave and family leave, plus related health plan expenses and the employer’s share of Medicare tax on the leave, for the period of April 1, 2020, through Dec. 31, 2020. The refundable credit is applied against certain employment taxes on wages paid to all employees.

How will employers receive the credit?

Employers can be immediately reimbursed for the credit by reducing their required deposits of payroll taxes that have been withheld from employees’ wages by the amount of the credit.

Eligible employers will report their total qualified wages and the related health insurance costs for each quarter on their quarterly employment tax returns or Form 941 beginning with the second quarter. If the employer’s employment tax deposits are not sufficient to cover the credit, the employer may receive an advance payment from the IRS by submitting Form 7200, Advance Payment of Employer Credits Due to COVID-19.

Eligible employers can also request an advance of the Employee Retention Credit by submitting Form 7200.

The IRS has also posted Employee Retention Credit FAQs and Paid Family Leave and Sick Leave FAQs that will help answer questions.

Updates on the implementation of the Employee Retention Credit and other information can be found on the Coronavirus page of IRS.gov.

Related Items:

•FS-2020-05, New Employee Retention Credit helps employers keep employees on payroll

COVID-19 Update

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The IRS (including the Social Security Administration) holds a monthly payroll profession phone meeting.  Usually on the first Thursday of the month, it was delayed this month due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  It was held yesterday.  As expected, the call centered around the latest updates for the pandemic on the new legislation. Here’s the recap for you:

1. There was a brief discussion on the updates the IRS has released, which include:

  • Notice 2020-21: discusses tax credits
  • Notice 2020-62: retention credits and FAQs
  • Notice 2020-54: HSA adjustments for the pandemic

2. It also discussed the latest forms to be released.  This includes the Form 7200 and its instructions.  This form is used to request tax credits in advance for the Families First Act and the CARES Act.

3. The Form 941 was discussed.  It is in the drafting stage and this draft version should be released by the end of next week.  This will be the form to use for the second quarter and beyond. It is being redesigned to allow for lines to report the various COVID-19 tax credits.  The form will go from two pages to three.  It is still unclear whether or not the Schedule B will be revamped as well.

4. Social Security Administration reminded the attendees that they are also on limited staffing so the employer 800# is not being staffed as it is not able to be accessed remotely by employees.  Employers are urged, instead, to use the email employers@ssa.gov  for any questions they may have.  This can be staffed from home by SSA staff members.  If you have questions on using the Business Services Online (BSO) you should email bso.support@ssa.gov.

The meeting for May will be on schedule and I will have any news from it posted by Friday of the same week.

Coronavirus Update

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As I posted in my last blog, many states as well as the federal government are making temporary changes to tax filing deadlines, unemployment insurance requirements and other matters during this pandemic.  The following is a recap of the latest updates that have crossed my desk this week:

Note:  I will be offering a webinar on the payroll related items occurring during this pandemic.  See info at bottom of blog for more details.

Federal: the U.S. Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the U.S. Department of Labor (Labor) announced that small and midsize employers can begin taking advantage of two new refundable payroll tax credits, designed to immediately and fully reimburse them, dollar-for-dollar, for the cost of providing Coronavirus-related leave to their employees. This relief to employees and small and midsize businesses is provided under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (Act), signed by President Trump on March 18, 2020. For full details see IRS website’s Coronavirus webpage.

The following states are providing filing or deposit penalty relief or extending deadlines due to the Corona Virus:

 

Unemployment Insurance Update: The following states are waiving waiting times or making other temporary changes:

The following is provided by these states:

San Francisco, California: Workers and Families First Program will provide paid sick leave to impacted workers.

New York: Guaranteed sick leave for New Yorkers under mandatory or precautionary quarantine

I will be offering a webinar/lecture on major impacts that affect payroll professionals due to the pandemic.  It will be held on Friday, April 10, 2020 from 10 am to 11:30 am Pacific time.  More details will be available next week.