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Compensation & Benefits

Keep it Legal: Wage transparency may lower wages

12/22/2023
More employees—especially younger ones—are openly discussing their pay and even sharing industry or employer-specific information they have collected in comprehensive lists. Perhaps paradoxically, recent research out of Harvard seems to show that all this information collected and shared may actually suppress wages.

Holiday cheer to everybody! Our final Friday wrap of 2023

12/22/2023
We checked out list twice, and here’s what you need to know before year-end.

Good tidings of (somewhat) great joy: The IRS abates $1 billion of penalties

12/21/2023
What a stocking stuffer! The IRS is abating approximately $1 billion in failure-to-pay penalties for individuals, businesses and tax-exempt organizations filing Form 990-T, whose 2020 and 2021 tax liabilities have lingered since 2022.

In the Payroll Mailbag: January ’24

12/20/2023
Your W-2s are due to employees and the Social Security Administration by Jan. 31, which means last-minute questions.

Paying a contractor $600? Remember to backup withhold

12/20/2023
Payments to independent contractors are free from withholding. An IRS Program Manager Technical Advice memo, however, reminds payers to backup withhold if a contractor didn’t provide you with their Social Security number prior to your first payment or you receive a Notice CP2100/2100A from the IRS.

W-2, Code DD reporting is as clear as mud

12/20/2023
Where does the new e-filing threshold leave Code DD reporting?

Jan. 31: Your W-2 date with infamy

12/20/2023
On Jan. 31, you must provide employees with their W-2s and file those forms with the Social Security Administration. The IRS must have your fourth-quarter 941 form and annual 940 and 945 forms by Jan. 31, too. It’s time to get working.

Stay out of the IRS’ penalty net this 1095-C filing season

12/20/2023
By Jan. 31, applicable large employers—those with at least 50 full-time employees—must furnish full-time employees with Form 1095-C, which reports offers of affordable group health insurance.

Pass the word: What employees need to know about W-2s

12/20/2023
You’re going to be extraordinarily busy this month. The best strategy is to head off employees’ W-2 questions now. Consider using this template to communicate basic information to employees about their W-2s.

Family health insurance is no longer affordable through small employers

12/20/2023
Workers at small firms—those with fewer than 200 employees—would need to pay $8,334 on average toward the annual premiums for family coverage. But an employee’s share of premiums is often much more expensive—a quarter of covered workers at small firms must pay $12,000 or more annually.