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Payroll

Sneak peek at the IRS’ new guidance on meals

04/19/2015
The IRS hasn’t addressed whether employer-provided meals are taxable to employees in decades. So it caused some alarm when the item showed up on its 2014-2015 priority guidance plan. According to Paul Carlino, chief, Employment Tax Branch 1, IRS’ Office of Division Counsel/Associate Chief Counsel (Tax Exempt and Government Entities), the IRS is getting ready to issue new regulations and perhaps a revenue procedure.

Guide to 2015 state direct deposit and paycard laws

04/17/2015
States usually require that employees voluntarily participate in electronic pay programs. This chart summarizes the states’ direct deposit/paycard rules. “Mandatory” means that a state allows you to make e-payment a condition of employment, if you choose. States that don’t have laws aren’t included.

As military-leave season nears, plan now for reservists’ absence

04/17/2015
Summer is usually when employees who belong to the National Guard and military Reserves give their two weeks of duty to Uncle Sam. Some military-connected employees may be deployed for longer periods of time. Now is the time to prepare for their absence.

FICA refunds available for same-sex married couples

04/14/2015
The IRS will allow couples whose same-sex domestic arrangements were retroactively classified as marriages, and their employers, to apply for FICA refunds.

Status report: Forms 941 migration to MeF platform

04/13/2015
Your first-quarter 2015 Form 941 is due by the end of this month. If you e-file, the IRS has some important news for you: It is permanently retiring its two current e-filing options—the 94x E-file Program Method or the PIN-based 94x Online E-file Program Method—now called legacy systems, by the end of this year. In their place, the IRS is shifting all payroll returns to its Modernized e-File platform, or MeF.

IRS drives the final nail into Quality Stores

04/10/2015
The IRS has announced that it is disallowing all protective FICA refund claims related to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2014 decision in U.S. v. Quality Stores.

Regulatory alert: Paycards and MyIRA

04/07/2015
Federal agencies have been busy adding to their regulatory agenda. Here’s the latest news from the regulations front.

What are the penalties for bounced paychecks?

04/06/2015
Q. What happens if I miss a payday or my employees’ paychecks bounce when they attempt to deposit or cash them?

Tab on $147 in unclaimed wages: Almost $1.4 million

04/06/2015
Delaware is attempting to collect almost $1.4 million from a Tennessee company that failed to properly direct a single unclaimed paycheck worth all of $147 into the state coffers.

Time to get to work on health care reporting forms

04/03/2015
All large employers, even those that offer no health insurance and those that are eligible for transition relief this year, can begin to collect the information needed to complete Forms 1095-C/1094-C.