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Compensation & Benefits

December 2023: Employer’s business tax calendar

10/31/2023
Here’s your monthly guide to critical payroll due dates.

Looming child-care crisis could affect your employees

10/30/2023
Many of your employees may soon begin scrambling to find child care for their kids—if they’re not already struggling. That’s because as many as 70,000 child-care providers nationwide could be forced to close after $24 billion in American Rescue Plan federal funding ran out Sept. 30. Thousands of day cares have shut their doors since then.

Cost of employer-sponsored health insurance rose 7% this year, totaling almost $24K

10/30/2023
Amid rising inflation, annual family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance climbed an average of 7% this year to reach $23,968, a sharp departure from virtually no growth in premiums last year, the 2023 benchmark KFF Employer Health Benefits Survey finds.

IRS spills the beans on its ERC tribulations, IRIS and more

10/26/2023
As of Sept 30, so-called ERC mills filed 3.6 million Forms 941-X claiming the employee retention credit. As of Sept. 14, the day the IRS imposed its moratorium, the IRS had 600,000 ERC claims in open inventory. Those eye-popping stats were provided by Crystal Stinson, employment tax policy analyst at the IRS, the keynote speaker on day 1 of our Payroll Compliance Workshop.

401(k) plans will open to more long-term part-timers

10/25/2023
Both SECURE 1.0 and SECURE 2.0 revise the conditions under which long-term part-time employees must be allowed to participate in your 401(k) plan. SECURE 1.0’s amendments are effective with the 2024 plan year, which means these employees will soon be eligible to participate in your plan. You need to count these employees’ service hours and reach out to them now.

In the Payroll Mailbag: November ’23

10/25/2023
Same employee, new SSN: Is this OK? … Are gift baskets taxable?

Negligent employer liable for 2 years of back pay, not 3

10/25/2023
The Fair Labor Standards Act has two measures of liability: Pay two years of back pay if your failure to pay minimum wages or overtime wasn’t willful, or three years if it was. A mistaken failure to pay overtime due to negligence isn’t the same thing as willfully failing to pay employees, so an employer’s liability for back pay was limited to two years, a federal appeals court explained.

ERC fraud pushes IRS to halt Form 941-X processing

10/25/2023
The IRS has a moratorium through at least the end of the year on processing all 941-X forms on which the ERC is claimed, and a processing delay of 180 days for forms already in the pipeline as of Sept. 14, the day the moratorium began. The IRS has also taken other steps to stanch ERC fraud.

Avoid tax trap built into holiday gift cards for employees

10/23/2023
In today’s inflationary economy, employees will probably be thrilled to receive gift cards redeemable for merchandise or—even better!—gasoline. Who wouldn’t like 25 or 50 extra bucks during the holidays? However, employees’ excitement may dim when they realize the value of those gift cards counts as taxable income. That’s because giving gift cards to employees is the plastic equivalent of giving them cash—and cash is always taxable.

Benefits: Employers target health-care costs, mental health as they look toward 2024

10/23/2023
More than six out of 10 employers responding to a new Willis Towers Watson survey agree about their primary concerns as they anticipate managing health benefits in 2024.