Year-end Cutoff Date The year-end cutoff date for you to report changes for 2011 is December 30, 2011 at 1:00 p.m., or the day a payroll with a January 2012 check date is processed, whichever is earlier.  We recommend that you run any adjustments with a payroll to ensure that the taxes are withheld correctly.  Please remind your accountant to report payroll adjustments no later than your cut-off date. If payroll adjustments are necessary after the year-end cutoff date, we can rerun your tax returns.  However, there will be an additional charge and a processing delay.  Depending on when you [...]

Remember, next week is Thanksgiving and the banks will not be able to process ACH/Direct Deposit transactions on  Thursday, November 24th – Thanksgiving Day If you normally date your checks for Thursday, we will need your payroll information by 3pm on Monday for a Wednesday check date or 3pm on Tuesday for a Friday check date. If you normally have a Monday check date, we will need your payroll information by 3pm on Wednesday. However, we can always move your check date to a later date if that better suits your needs. If you have any questions regarding the upcoming [...]

What is the FUTA Credit? Under the provisions of the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA), a Federal tax is levied on employers covered by the Unemployment Insuranceprogram at a current rate of 6.2% on wages up to $7,000 a year paid to a worker. The law, however, provides a credit against Federal tax liability of up to 5.4% to employers who pay state taxes timely under an approved state UI program. Accordingly, in states meeting the specified requirements, employers pay an effective Federal tax of 0.8%, or a maximum of $56 per covered worker, per year. The credit against the [...]

Recently, the IRS and many states mailed out Deposit Requirement notices for those companies that have a change in deposit frequency for 2012. If you received one of these notices, it is imperative that you forward a copy to our office as soon as possible to avoid penalties in 2012. See below for some sample letters. As always, if you receive any notice from the IRS or your state, please forward to us at your earliest convenience.    

As many as 17 states are increasing their SUI Wage Base. Some states have yet to report their 2012 wage base. Below is a listing of reported 2012 SUI wage bases compared to 2011. State 2012 Wage Base 2011 Wage Base Alabama $8,000 $8,000 Alaska 34,600 Arizona 7,000 7,000 Arkansas 12,000 12,000 California 7,000 7,000 Colorado 11,000 10,000 Connecticut 15,000 15,000 Delaware 10,500 10,500 District of Columbia 9,000 9,000 Florida 8,500 7,000 Georgia 8,500 8,500 Hawaii 34,200 Idaho 33,300 Illinois 13,560 12,740 Indiana 9,500 9,500 Iowa 25,300 24,700 Kansas 8,000 8,000 Kentucky 9,000 8,000 Louisiana 7,700 Maine 12,000 12,000 Maryland [...]

On September 2, 2011, the Department of Labor published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register (see 76 FR 54836) that includes proposals to amend its existing regulations addressing child labor in agricultural employment and child labor in nonagricultural employment under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and to incorporate into the regulations the enforcement policies that the Department’s Wage and Hour Division follows when determining whether to assess a civil money penalty for child labor violations and the amount of that penalty.  The public was requested to submit comments on the proposal by November 1, 2011. Although [...]

IRS Announces Pension Plan Limitations for 2012 WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced cost of living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related items for Tax Year 2012. In general, many of the pension plan limitations will change for 2012 because the increase in the cost-of-living index met the statutory thresholds that trigger their adjustment. However, other limitations will remain unchanged.  Highlights include: The elective deferral (contribution) limit for employees who participate in 401(k), 403(b), most 457 plans, and the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan is increased from $16,500 to $17,000. The catch-up contribution limit [...]

Press Release Wednesday, October 19, 2011 Press Office For Immediate Release 410-965-8904 press.office@ssa.gov Social Security Announces 3.6 Percent Benefit Increase for 2012 Cost-of-Living Adjustment is First Since 2009 (Printer friendly version) Monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for more than 60 million Americans will increase 3.6 percent in 2012, the Social Security Administration announced today. The 3.6 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits that nearly 55 million Social Security beneficiaries receive in January 2012.  Increased payments to more than 8 million SSI beneficiaries will begin on December 30, 2011. Some other changes that take effect [...]

Effective tax years beginning after December 31, 2009 the IRS has published  regulations in regards to employee use of business cell phones.  The IRS has specified that an employer provided cell phone issued to an employee "primarily for noncompensatory business reasons" will be considered by the IRS as business use of the employer issued cell phone and will be considered a working condition fringe benefit, while the personal use will be treated as a de minimis fringe. Please see IRS Notice 2011-72 For the full IRS publication issued September 14, 2011 please visit the IRS' website: IRS Issues Guidance on [...]

On Tuesday, Senate rejected Obama's $447 billion jobs plan. The American Jobs Act would have impacted payroll in several ways such as cutting payroll taxes in half for 98 percent of businesses, A “Returning Heroes” tax credit, and a $4000 tax credit to employers for hiring long-term unemployed workers. For the full fact sheet please visit  Fact Sheet: The American Jobs Act With the plans legislative life behind it, smaller components of the American Jobs Act are likely to be presented independently.