Payroll

Are cash bonuses to employees and survivors taxable? Reportable?

10/04/2012

Question: We are a public employer. Since employees haven’t had pay raises in more than four years, we will soon be making cash distributions to them. Employees’ survivors will get separate distributions. Are these distributions taxable and how do we report payments made to survivors?

Employee loans: Are they reportable or not?

10/04/2012

Question: Our company makes interest-free loans to employees so they can buy home computers. The purpose of the loan program is to allow employees to hone their computer skills. Employees can take up to four years to repay their loans. Must we report the loans on their W-2 forms?

Reporting agents: IRS offers new guidance on your responsibilities, rights

10/03/2012

Payroll reporting agents are service bureaus and other businesses that can handle all of your payroll duties, including depositing taxes and filing forms. New guidance from the IRS is designed to help you keep tabs on your reporting agent.

Special analysis: Lifestyle benefits = payroll taxes

09/28/2012

Corporate HR departments love nontraditional benefits—perks other than leave, health insurance and retirement benefits—because they’re generally cheap and build loads of employee good will. But many so-called lifestyle benefits are taxable, much to HR’s chagrin.

23-cent bonus adds up to one big payroll headache

09/24/2012

If an employer retains complete control over whether to pay a bonus and the amount of the bonus, then it can be excluded from an employee’s regular rate as a discretionary bonus. But both parts of this test count equally. Recently, a federal trial court ruled that bonuses that always equaled $50 failed the second part of the test.

Regs detail the 50% deduction limit for leased employees

09/21/2012

There’s more to leasing employees than clients remitting their pay to the leasing company. While employees can be reimbursed 100% for their substantiated meal expenses, business deductions are limited to 50%. Normally, the employer is stuck with this deduction disallowance. But the involvement of the leasing company complicates matters.

FMLA damages are payroll taxable, court rules

09/20/2012

For a long time, damages employees received under the FMLA weren’t considered payroll taxable because courts read the FMLA’s unique damages provision—which mandates damages equal to lost pay—as not being the same as taxable back pay. A federal trial court has now turned this reasoning on its head.

Any improvements planned for the W-2 Online website?

09/07/2012

Question: Does the Social Security Administration plan to improve the Business Services Online suite of services within W-2 Online?

Behind-the-scenes: DOL investigator pulls back curtain

09/06/2012

Whatever you do, don’t call a U.S. Department of Labor investigator an auditor. Auditors look for nickels and dimes. DOL investigators look for compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Employers’ child support collection efforts pay off

09/04/2012

According to recent statistics, 70% of child support is collected through wage withholding. Even so, some deadbeat parents slip through the cracks. To catch them, the Office of Child Support Enforcement has formed an alliance with employers to implement its newest program—the Passport Denial Program.