Payroll

Common payroll pitfalls and how to avoid them

08/25/2014

The American Payroll Association’s 32nd Annual Congress revealed fixes and solutions in some potentially dangerous gray areas.

Employer slammed for failing to honor IRS tax levy

08/22/2014

When the IRS knocks on your company’s door with a wage levy against an employee, don’t pretend there’s no one home. A federal trial court has ruled that a company that ignored an IRS wage levy is on the hook for the levied amount—plus a 50% penalty.

What to do when schedules affect child-support obligations?

08/20/2014

Question: We have weekly-paid employees who regularly work four consecutive weeks and then take two weeks off. As a result, some have trouble maintaining their monthly child support obligations. How might we work with the state agencies to accommodate our pay frequency so employees don’t end up in arrears?

IRS addresses corrections to the additional Medicare tax

08/19/2014

Correcting withholding errors in the 0.9% additional Medicare tax added by the Affordable Care Act continues to cause some confusion, since these corrections don’t follow the regular FICA correction rules. An updated frequently-asked-questions document from the IRS provides details on how to correct withholding errors in the additional Medicare tax.

Advance health credits: The math may not be so simple

08/18/2014

No one likes surprises, least of all tax surprises. Employees who signed up for individual health insurance through a health insurance exchange, and who took the advance premium tax credit on a monthly basis, may be in for doozy of a tax bill, after they reconcile those advance credits with their eligibility for the actual credit on their 2014 Forms 1040.

IRS reg alert: ACA waiting periods, FICA/FUTA exemptions

08/14/2014

The IRS has been busy adding to its regulatory agenda. Here’s the latest news from the regulations front.

IRS issues final regs on the health care tax credit

08/14/2014

Under final ACA regulations, employers that have fewer than 25 full-time equivalent employees who earn up to $50,000 (adjusted for inflation), and that make nonelective contributions equal to at least 50% of employees’ health premiums, are eligible for a 50% health care tax credit (35% for nonprofits).

Shhh! How to make certain your private data stays that way

08/12/2014

Payroll handles sensitive data all the time, so it’s vital that you develop and maintain a robust privacy policy. Carla Gracen, product manager at Ceridian HCM, Inc., gave some policy pointers during her workshop at the American Payroll Association’s 32nd Annual Congress.

Pay for time spent at home reviewing records of hours worked?

08/08/2014

Q: We are about to implement a self-service time and attendance system that will allow employees to view their time cards at home. They’re not required to do this and they couldn’t make any changes to their time cards. Do we need to pay employees for this time?

I, Robot, want to be exempt from payroll taxes

08/07/2014

Speaking at an Employee Benefit Research Institute symposium on the future of benefits, Arnold Brown posed an intriguing—some might say disturbing—question.