Payroll

Taxable or not? What do we do about door prizes for spouses?

11/06/2013

Question: Door prizes at our wellness fair included gift cards. We know that employees who receive gift cards are taxed on those amounts, but what about spouses—are gift cards taxable to employees and reportable on their W-2s if their spouses win prizes?

It’s about time: Fall back!

11/01/2013

Don’t forget to turn your clocks back one hour, to standard time, at 2 a.m., Sunday, Nov. 3.

November 2013: Employer’s business tax calendar

11/01/2013

Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays as observed in the District of Columbia are taken into account to determine due dates. Under the federal deposit rules, you’re allowed a deposit shortfall of the greater of $100 or 2% of your tax liability.

FICA wage base, retirement contribution limits increase for 2014

10/30/2013

Uncle Sam has released new cost-of-living adjustments affecting Social Security tax withholding and retirement plans for 2014.

1099s: W-2s’ poor relation, but just as demanding

10/24/2013

Many Payroll departments get hit with the double whammy of having to prepare Forms 1099-MISC for the company’s independent contractors, in addition to employees’ W-2s. Reminder: If you file 250 or more 1099-MISC forms you must file them electronically through the IRS’ FIRE system.

Office manager off the hook for the 100% penalty, for now

10/17/2013

Fail to deposit your payroll taxes on time and the IRS can go after anyone in the company it considers to be a responsible person. The IRS recently lost its bid to hold an office manager responsible after a federal trial court ruled that whether she was a responsible person was a matter for a jury to decide.

IRS/DOL extend benefits to all same-sex married couples

10/16/2013

Under new IRS and DOL guidance, legally married same-sex couples are entitled to all federal spousal tax and ERISA benefits, even if they live in states that don’t recognize same-sex marriage.

Paying workers with debit cards isn’t as easy as it seems

10/10/2013

More employers are pushing their workers to receive pay via debit cards. But not all employees want to be paid that way—and the law is often on their side.

Health benefit reporting on 2013 Forms W-2

10/08/2013

If you filed at least 250 W-2s for 2012, you’ll be on the hook for reporting the aggregate cost of employees’ health benefits on their 2013 W-2s. Here’s a chart listing health benefits and whether you must report them.

No penalty for not providing ACA notice? Maybe, maybe not

10/07/2013

The Affordable Care Act required you to provide employees with notices regarding the health insurance exchanges by Oct. 1. The DOL first posted an FAQ absolving employers that didn’t provide these notices from penalties. However, later clarifications by the DOL imply that this isn’t a consequence-free zone …