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Payroll

Employer not liable for honoring wage levy

07/27/2017
An employer that honored a lock-in letter and a wage levy from the IRS isn’t liable to the employee for doing so, a federal trial court has ruled.

Knock, knock … Who’s there?

07/27/2017
IRS … IRS, who? Phone scams involving the IRS are so common that it has become a reflex to hang up the phone before the robocaller is even finished with the initial spiel. But what if someone knocks on your company’s door, flashes what looks like an official ID and says they’re from the IRS? How do you know for sure?

St. Paul embezzler of $1.2 million heads to prison

07/21/2017
A St. Paul man who once worked as the controller of an insurance company is headed to prison following his conviction for a 20-year scheme to embezzle more than $1.2 million from his former employer.

August 2017: Employer’s business tax calendar

06/22/2017
Here’s your monthly guide to critical payroll due dates.

Substantiation eased for hardship retirement distributions

06/22/2017
One of the first things IRS auditors examine when auditing 401(k) or 403(b) plans is documentation backing up hardship distributions made to employees who need cash. New exception: New instructions to auditors ease this substantiation burden by allowing plans to ditch retaining original documentation in favor of summaries of employees’ financial need.

In the Payroll Mailbag …

06/22/2017
What do to when health benefit deductions go bad … No proof of identity from employee … Are pedometers taxable? … Rules for providing electronic W-2s … What company cars and library books have in common

The Mouse is not pleased! What’s your policy on uniforms?

06/22/2017

Mickey and Minnie have gotten their due. The Department of Labor has announced that it has reached an agreement with the Walt Disney Co. to pay $3.8 million in back wages to 16,339 “cast members” who had to pay for “costumes” to be worn at the company’s theme parks.

HHS civil rights office warns of HIPAA phishing scam

06/22/2017
If you have a health plan, the odds are you’re covered under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA. The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights—the OCR—has become aware of two phishing schemes related to HIPAA.

Glitch arises with payroll tax credit for research

06/22/2017
The credit is taken on Form 941. For calendar year businesses, the first time the credit can be taken is on the second-quarter form, which is due July 31.

Feds: Payroll news you can use

06/22/2017
Here are digests of some recently released official announcements from around the federal government.