Payroll

IRS updates rules for electronic transit fare media

01/27/2015

The first time the IRS allowed employees to pay for their qualified mass transit benefits (up to $130 a month for 2015) through smartcards, debit cards, etc., in 2006, most municipalities’ computer systems couldn’t handle the load. Now that those computer systems are up to speed, the IRS has reissued its 2006 ruling and brought it up to date.

The tab on $147 in unclaimed wages? Almost $1.4 million

01/23/2015

Yes, you read that correctly. Delaware is attempting to collect $1,388,573.97 from a Tennessee company that failed to escheat one $147 unclaimed paycheck to it. The company is asking a federal court to throw out the results of Delaware’s unclaimed property audit, and with it, that whopping bill.

2015 standard mileage rate increases 1.5¢, to 57.5¢ per mile

01/21/2015

Despite the steep drop in gas prices at the pump, the IRS’ standard mileage rate, which you may use to reimburse employees who drive their own cars on business, increases to 57.5¢ a mile for 2015, from 56¢ a mile.

IRS OKs safe harbors for 401(k) plan rollovers

01/20/2015

401(k) plans have long been able to accept direct rollovers from other plans or IRAs. Dilemma: You weren’t always certain that new employees could roll over their account balances in the first place. To solve this conundrum, the IRS has designed two streamlined rollover safe harbors.

How to report a canceled loan?

01/16/2015

Question: An employee left our company in 2012. While he worked here, he had taken out a loan from the company and he signed a promissory note. The problem is that the company was sold in 2013, with the outstanding loan on the books. Our new employer just canceled the loan. How do we report this canceled loan? On a W-2, since the loan arose in the course of employment? Or on a 1099-MISC form, since he’s no longer an employee?

Leave-based donations allowed for Ebola charities

01/15/2015

The Obama administration has classified the Ebola epidemic in the West African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone as a public health emergency. As a result, through 2015, and retroactive to 2014, employers with leave-based donation programs may allow employees to donate their unused vacation days, sick days or personal days.

All-states chart: What to do with unclaimed paychecks

01/14/2015

This chart summarizes states’ unclaimed property laws. Most states require you to report on an employee-by-employee basis, if unclaimed wages exceed a certain threshold, usually $50. Unclaimed wages under the threshold may be reported in the aggregate. To get the full story on your state’s law, consult your state treasurer’s website.

Employer owes $2.6 million on employees’ parking benefits

01/12/2015

As if you didn’t have enough on your plate, you now need to worry about state sales tax. One tax court has slammed an employer with $2.6 million in unpaid sales taxes on the value of parking employees paid for with pretax deductions.

Regs allow reimbursement of local lodging expenses

01/08/2015

Under final tax regulations, employees who aren’t traveling away from home overnight, but who stay overnight at a local hotel, may have their substantiated lodging expenses reimbursed as a tax-free working condition fringe benefit, provided you have a bona fide reason to require them to stay overnight at the hotel.

Proposed rules cover changes in measurement periods/methods

01/04/2015

The ACA allows you to use the look-back/stability measurement method to determine whether employees are full-time employees. You set the length of your periods, provided they’re equal and aren’t longer than 12 months. Although it’s clear that you can’t restart the measurement clock when employees transfer, it’s less clear how you apply the periods once a transfer occurs. The IRS has proposed rules that clarify how differing periods apply to transfers.