Payroll

How long do you retain W-2 information?

05/14/2015

Q: A former employee has requested a copy of his 2003 W-2 form. We backed up the data, sent it to a remote storage facility and purged it years ago. It would be extremely burdensome to pull it out now, especially for a former employee. What is the legal requirement for providing employees with copies of old W-2s?

Take two: Some EPPs get transition relief

05/08/2015

The IRS meant it when it said that all employers, regardless of size, will be liable for a $100 per day, per employee, excise tax if they pay for or reimburse employees who buy individual health insurance either on or off the individual exchange. Sort of. It’s now providing transition relief to certain employers and to certain reimbursement arrangements.

What HR needs to know about tracking employee time

05/06/2015

Supervisors and HR pros need to understand what they can and cannot do with time records. Problems can lead to legal disputes under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Direct deposit is so 20th Century! Many millennials favor paycards

05/06/2015

Direct deposit was once new and novel. Now, most employees do have their pay deposited directly into their bank accounts, but for others, plastic paycards may be an answer.

Tax Court: Payments to kids are allowance, not wages

05/04/2015

Summer means kids working in the family business. But beware. The Tax Court tossed a sole proprietor’s effort to deduct as wages payments made to her children. According to the court, there wasn’t any consistent correlation between the hours worked and the amounts recorded as wage payments.

Cool down the summer hiring process

05/03/2015

Eager young adults may be papering the company with summer hiring inquiries and job applications. These tips will help you cool the summer hiring process.

Regs allow wraparound coverage for part-time employees

05/02/2015

Excepted benefits, such as limited-scope dental and vision benefits, aren’t subject to the Affordable Care Act’s requirements to provide affordable group coverage that provides minimum value. Proposed regulations would include wraparound coverage as a new category of excepted benefits. This coverage would be available to part-time employees and retirees. Under these regs, wraparound coverage would be permitted under a pilot program that begins no later than Dec. 31, 2017, and lasts for three years.

May 2015: Employer’s business tax calendar

04/30/2015

Here’s your monthly guide to critical payroll due dates.

Happy campers, happier parents

04/30/2015

Employees looking for a place to park their preteens during the summer should consider day camp. Tax break: Parents may defray day camp expenses, including expenses incurred for specialty camps, through the company’s dependent care assistance program, up to the $5,000 annual limit. Also covered: child care expenses for kids who stay home.

Are there limits on employees’ refiling W-4 forms?

04/28/2015

Q: We have employees who change their W-4 forms on an almost weekly basis. This is becoming very burdensome. Management has asked whether there are any regulations that allow us to limit the number of W-4 changes employees can make a year. Also, how do you explain to full-time employees that they’re not exempt from paying federal income taxes?