Payroll

4.2% employee Social Security rate extended through February 2012

12/31/2011

After weeks of wrangling, the House of Representatives and the Senate on Dec. 23, 2011 agreed to extend a 2 percentage point payroll tax cut for two months to buy time for talks on a full-year renewal. President Obama immediately signed the bill into law. The vote removes employer uncertainly about how to handle payroll withholding starting Jan. 1, 2012.

IRS travel rules: Panama Canal, here we come!

12/28/2011

If employees attend a business convention in Europe, you can’t reimburse their business expenses on a tax-free basis unless they demonstrate that the convention’s location satisfies heightened standards of reasonableness. But employees who attend business conventions in North America need only establish the familiar elements of the accountable plan rules for their reimbursements to be tax-free …

Employer wins commute dispute

12/28/2011

Employees must be paid for their pre-shift or post-shift activities, if those activities are integral and indispensable to the performance of their principal jobs. That can stretch a workday and possibly require you to pay for employees’ commuting time. But not all pre-shift or post-shift work is the same.

Create time sheets in MS Excel

12/21/2011

It’s easy to set up a simple time sheet in Microsoft Excel. All MS Excel versions have a “Time Card” template with the basics.

IRS: Cellphone/smartphone rules apply to tablets, too

12/20/2011

According to the IRS, the same rules that apply to employees’ tax-free use of cellphones and smartphones also apply to tablets, such as iPads.

2012 tax rates: It always pays to plan ahead

12/16/2011

Employees can take a lot of the guesswork out of their 2012 income tax liability by ensuring that their W-4s are accurate. Those who need to file new forms due to changes in their personal finances now have the inflation-adjusted figures on which to base those decisions.

Will the reduced FICA tax rate stay or go?

12/14/2011

When the congressional “Supercommittee” failed to reach a deficit-reduction deal in November, it also punted on renewing the so-called payroll tax holiday. If Congress doesn’t act before Jan. 1, the pre-2011 rate will go back into effect, costing the average American worker about $900 in take-home pay in 2012.

Rough reentry for Space Coast firm that defied fed auditors

12/13/2011

United Space Alliance, a cooperative venture between aerospace giants Lockheed Martin and Boeing, has refused to turn over payroll records from its Cape Canaveral facility to federal investigators. The request follows a 2009 investigation of the company’s affirmative action program by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

Regs restore FICA/FUTA family employment exemptions

12/05/2011

Regulations have restored the FICA/FUTA exemptions for employing family members and members of religious orders in LLCs and other disregarded entities that didn’t elect to be treated as corporations for federal payroll tax purposes. The regs became effective Nov. 1, 2011, but you may apply them to wages paid beginning Jan. 1, 2009.

Busy year for Payroll in the IRS’ business plan