Payroll Updates for September

 

Here are our updates for September:

 

 

 

Thursday, September 29, 2022:

 

California, Palo Alto: the minimum wage for the city will increase to $17.30 per hour effective January 1, 2023.

California, San Carlos: The minimum wage for the city will increase to $16.32 per hour effective January 1, 2023.

 

Friday, September 16, 2022:

Federal: The Gen. Services Administration has announced the per diem rates for 2023. The standard CONUS lodging rate will increase from $96 to $98. All current NSAs will have lodging rates at or above FY 2022 rates. The M&IE per diem tiers for FY 2023 are unchanged at $59-$79, with the standard M&IE rate unchanged at $59.

 

Thursday, September 15, 2022:

Nevada: the state has announced the taxable wage base for SUI for 2023. Effective January 1, 2023, the taxable wage base will be $40,100.

 

Wednesday, September 14, 2022:

Arkansas: the state has issued new withholding tables for wages paid on or after October 1, 2022. These new tables reflect the new income tax rate of 4.9%. This new rate was set by legislation back in August. The supplemental tax rate is also 4.9%.

Daily News Updates for February

A bit more of a change up for the new year.  Several of my followers have noted that having one blog for news updates per month would be easier rather than breaking it up by week.  To further refine my new blogs I will do one for each month, in this case February, and update daily as my news letters go out.  I hope you find this helpful.

 

February 22, 2022:  I have not posted for a while as the news has been really slow.  But it is coming back now that year end is over and legislatures are coming back to work.  Today we have the minimum wage increase for airport workers in Houston, TX.

The Mayor has signed an Executive Order that will raise the minimum wage for Houston airport workers to the following:

  • $13.00 per hour, eff. April 1, 2022
  • $14.00 per hour, eff. Oct. 1, 2022
  • $15.00 per hour, eff. Oct. 1, 2023.

 

February 3, 2022: Pennsylvania: The Department of Revenue has announced on its website that due to the very high volume of users attempting to upload large volumes of information simultaneously, e-TIDES, the Department of Revenue’s online business tax filing system, has been experiencing technical issues. As a result, the department has extended the filing deadline for W2s, 1099s, and the REV-1667 to February 4, 2022.

 

 

 

 

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Corona Virus Update

Here are the updates to report since my last COVID-19 blog. First up, the Department of Labor is now, officially, enforcing the paid sick leave and paid family leave requirements of the Families First Act. There was a grace period for compliance and that has now passed.

 

The states are starting to get active with information on withholding taxes and especially on garnishments.  These include:

Withholding Tax:

  • Colorado:  nonresident emergency workers are not subject to withholding for state income tax.
  • Maryland: new guidance notes that the pandemic does not affect the withholding requirements for teleworkers.
  • Massachusetts:  compensation to a nonresident is still sourced to the state if the worker was performing those services within the state immediately before the pandemic and is now performing those services outside the state.

Garnishments: Pennsylvania and Washington are suspending or reducing wage garnishments or tax liens.

Most of the states have COVID-19 sections on their websites for either departments of labor or departments of revenue to assist employers with questions and compliance issues.

To keep up to date with the latest info on the COVID-19 payroll related news items, subscribe to our payroll e-news service, Payroll 24/7 for only $149 per year.

Corona Virus Update

States are working fast and furious to get out their response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Since my last update blog, Connecticut, Hawaii and Indiana are among the states that have either released or updated the FAQs on their websites with new information on the latest COVID-19 measures.

Some states are offering tax relief in terms of delaying either unemployment insurance payments or withholding tax deposits.  These include: Iowa, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota and Texas.  However, Arkansas and Colorado, at this time, are not offering extensions for payments or deposits of withholding taxes.

When it comes to unemployment claims, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Vermont are not charging an employer’s account for SUI benefits claims related to the COVID-19 emergency.

Need more info on the latest for the Corona Virus pandemic and payroll related items?  Today is the last day to register for my webinar tomorrow on all things payroll related to COVID-19 including the Families First Act, the CARES Act (and tax credits), state updates on filing and tax relief and garnishment updates including IRS tax levies and student loans.  Use coupon code BBTK7FCJ at checkout to receive a 10% discount off the $149 registration price.

Coronavirus Update

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.

Corona Virus Update

The federal and state governments are focusing on providing either tax relief, lost wages relief or updates when employers are affected by the Corona Virus.  This may include delaying reporting or allowing for penalty relief.  It may also include mandatory sick pay, clarification on current sick pay mandates or changes to unemployment insurance qualifications. The following are some of the actions being taken by the IRS or states during this difficult time:

Internal Revenue Service: The IRS has established a special section focused on steps to help taxpayers, businesses and others affected by the coronavirus. This page will be updated as new information is available. This page includes information on (1) Deferring tax payments and (2) High deductible plans covering the pandemic.

So far, the following states are addressing the pandemic:

States Extending Filing Deadlines:

  • California: 60-day filing extension available
  • Maryland: Extend to June 1

State Unemployment and/or Disability:

The following states have suspended the waiting period for unemployment benefits for any employees affected by the Corona Virus: California, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and Washington.

Paid Sick Leave Updates or Guidance:

San Francisco: The San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE) has issued guidance regarding the use of San Francisco paid sick leave for situations involving the recent Coronavirus outbreak.

Colorado: Effective March 11, 2020, emergency rules temporarily require employers in certain industries to provide a small amount of paid sick leave (up to four days) to employees with flu-like symptoms while awaiting coronavirus (COVID-19) testing. The DLSS has a webpage dedicated to the emergency rules with further information that will be updated as necessary.

New Jersey: Workers may use sick leave, apply for TDI or apply for Family Leave Insurance due to the Corona Virus.

Washington: Workers who are sick with the virus and have a Certification of a Serious Health Condition form signed by a healthcare provider may be eligible for Paid Family and Medical Leave benefits. The ESD has a comparison guide and a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) to find out which programs and benefits are available in various circumstances.

As more information comes in for the states, I will update this blog.

Forms W-2 2016 Due Dates Update

form w-2 due dateEarlier this year the IRS announced that the due date for the copy of the Form W-2 required to be filed with the Social Security Administration changed. Instead of being due by the last day in February for paper filers or March 31st for electronic filers, all filers must submit the form by January 31st.  The change was made in an attempt to curtail excess fraud schemes that had cropped up around filing fraudulent 1040 forms and requesting nonexistent refunds.  The states, suffering from the same type of fraud, also began changing due dates as well.  Our white paper this time is a recap of the changes and lists the current due dates for the forms by state.  This list is current as of July 14th.  Of course, as legislatures return in the fall, we may expect more changes.  We will publish a final due date list in late December.

We hope you find the information useful. white paper forms w-2 due dates 2016

 

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Company Cars Part 2

Our free white paper this week is the second of our two-parter on the personal use of a company car.  This time we are doing the math.  Yes unfortunately, math is involved when having to determine the taxable wages.  But it is not the only thing needed to do the computations. Vehicle values and vehicle logs are also needed, depending on the method chosen.  You also need to determine the proper method based on the value of the car and the status of the employee.  We hope you find the white paper useful. It can be requested on our website.

 

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Pay Stubs are Not W-2s–Duh?

I received an update recently from the Colorado Department of Revenue on a blog post they did on January 6th concerning paystubs and Forms W-2. 2015 form w-2 Now in my payroll departments I have always stated emphatically in my year end memo that you can not interchange the two forms and you cannot submit your taxes using the paystub.  But the problem seems to be that some tax preparation services are advertising “Bring us your pay stubs and we’ll file your tax return.”  So it seems that payroll departments need to gently remind their customers that you have to wait until the W-2s are released by payroll before you can file either on paper or electronically.

California Enacting Electronic Filing Requirement for All Employers

The state legislature has passed AB 1245, a bill that requires California employers of 10 or more employees to submit quarterly payroll tax returns and pay the associated payroll taxes electronically over the California Employment Development Department website starting in 2017. The bill also requires all employers to file and pay electronically effective January 1, 2018. The bill awaits the governor signature and he is expected to sign it.

Today is the last day to receive updates through this blog.  Starting on Monday, August 3rd, the blog will be devoted to discussing current payroll issues and questions.

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