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Payroll

SSNs or ITINs on W-2s?

08/10/2011
Question: What should employers do if the only ID number they have for an employee is an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), and not a Social Security Number (SSN)?

Regs outline IRS whistle-blowers’ rights and responsibilities

08/10/2011
It’s not exactly WikiLeaks, but Payroll administrators who are distressed over other employees’ alleged violations of the tax code can work with the IRS’ Whistleblower Office to expose tax law violators. Final regulations set some of the ground rules for cooperating with the IRS in whistle-blower investigations.

FUTA surtax expired: Now what?

08/10/2011

The 0.2% “temporary” FUTA surtax, which has been in effect since 1976, expired at the end of June. So far, Congress hasn’t introduced legislation to extend it. But if the surtax is re-enacted retroactively?

Filing False W-4s Lands Employee in Prison

08/10/2011
A federal appeals court has upheld the conviction and 21-month prison sentence of an employee who filed W-4 forms on which he falsely claimed an exemption from income tax withholding. The ruling raises the ante for tax protesters who commit W-4 fraud.

Worker lost $700: Can we make him pay it back?

08/10/2011
Q. One of our employees ran an errand for us to pick up $700 in cash. He says he lost it. Can we make him pay it back?

Worker lost $700: Can we make him pay it back?

08/02/2011
When an employee loses company property or money, what recourse do employers have to recoup their loss? It depends on the applicable state wage law … and on whether you believe the “loss” was really accidental.

Should we log independent contractors’ hours?

07/26/2011
Q. Does asking independent contractors to complete a time sheet jeopardize their contractor status?

How should we pay if our time clock breaks?

07/26/2011
Q. Because of a time-clock malfunction, we couldn’t determine how much pay we owed some employees. What is our obligation to pay employees if we can’t calculate the exact number of hours worked? Is there any penalty for the delayed payment?

Late W-2c forms are now twice as costly

07/19/2011
The 2010 Small Business Jobs Act doubles the penalty—now $100, up from $50—for each missing or incorrect 2010 Form W-2 that is filed or corrected after Aug. 1, 2011.

1099 TIN truncation to continue for 2 more years

07/14/2011
The IRS has extended its pilot program under which filers of the Forms 1099 series of information returns may truncate the first five digits of payees’ Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TINs) on payees’ paper copies.