Vision Payroll

In Private Letter Ruling 200825043, the IRS concluded that employers who receive a determination letter from the IRS that someone previously classified as an independent contractor should be classified as a employee may use §3509 to reduce the amount of employee FICA tax and federal income tax payable. The federal withholding in such cases is reduced to 1.5% of wages regardless of what the employee claims on a Form W-4. The FICA tax rate is reduced from 7.65% to 1.53% on the employee’s portion. The employer’s rate remains at 7.65%. If the employer did not file Form 1099-MISC for payments made to the newly-classified employee, the employee withholding rates are doubled. Furthermore, no interest is charged on the late payment of the employee’s portion of the tax.

The federal minimum wage is set to increase from $5.85 per hour to $6.55 per hour for work performed after July 23, 2008. Under current law, an additional increase to $7.25 per hour is scheduled for work performed after July 23, 2009. The Fair Labor Standards Act sets the minimum wage for nonexempt, covered employees. Employees in states with laws that set higher minimum wages are entitled to higher minimum wages. Different minimum wages may be paid to certain classes of employees in some situations, including tipped employees, disabled workers, full-time students, student-learners and youth under age 20 in their first 90 consecutive calendar days of employment. If state and federal rules differ, employers are generally required to follow the rules that are more beneficial to employees. Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on minimum wage law changes.

In Revenue Ruling 2008-29, the IRS clarified the amount of federal income tax to be withheld on certain supplemental wages. Situations covered include sales commissions, draws, signing bonuses, severance pay, annual leave, vacation and sick pay, and sick pay paid at a different rate. Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on this ruling.

The IRS recently issued Notice 2008-59 on Health Savings Accounts (HSA), which are available to taxpayers enrolled in a High Deductible Health Plan. Qualified contributions to an HSA are not subject to federal income tax and distributions from an HSA for qualified medical expenses may also be made tax-free. The guidance is in the form of 42 questions and answers and the topics covered are: Eligible Individuals, High Deductible Health Plans, Contributions, Distributions, Prohibited Transactions, Establishing an HSA, and Administration. Vision Payroll can work with you and your benefits broker to determine if an HSA is right for you and, if so, to ensure that your HSA is properly established. Vision Payroll will also ensure that your deductions are properly calculated and reported for federal and state tax purposes. An HSA can be a cost-effective alternative to traditional health plans—shouldn’t you find out more today?

This week’s question comes from Felix, a payroll manager: I have an employee who worked 34 hours last week. Since we pay eight hours for Independence Day even though we don’t work, do I need to pay two hours of overtime? Answer: Nothing in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires payment for time not worked. If an employer voluntarily pays for time not worked such as holidays, those hours need not be counted toward the FLSA overtime requirement for hours worked in excess of 40. Note that other federal or state laws or contractual agreements may require payment of holiday hours. Also, if an employee actually works on a holiday, those hours would be counted toward the overtime requirement. Consult your attorney if you have further questions.

Wal-Mart Inc. was ordered to pay more than $6.5 million in compensatory damages to current and former employees who worked in Minnesota. In Nancy Braun, et al. v. Wal-Mart, Inc., et al., No. 19-CO-01-9790, Minn. Dist., Dakota Co., Wal-Mart was found to have committed over two million violations of state laws including failure to provide rest and meal breaks as required by law or contract, requiring off-the-clock work during training, and improper record keeping. Wal-Mart also faces additional punitive damages and statutory penalties in excess of $2 billion.

Did you know that you can import your payroll data directly into QuickBooks®, Peachtree®, or other accounting software? Save time and avoid data entry errors through our streamlined payroll import. We work with your accountant or bookkeeper to setup the import and then you login to our website to retrieve your encrypted download. A few mouse clicks later and your payroll has been imported, allowing you to move on to more important things. Not all product versions are capable of importing files, so call us today to get more details.

The IRS recently released Notice 2008-62 which states that teachers who receive pay over a 12-month period will generally not be subject to §409A. Technically, teachers who only work for 9 or 10 months but are paid over a 12-month schedule have deferred compensation under §409A since some pay is deferred from one calendar year to the next. Under proposed regulations to be issued under §457(f), teachers paid under such plans will be exempt from the §409A rules.

The US District Court for the Southern District of New York has upheld payroll tax penalties on a company owned by actor Joe Pesci even though the taxes were timely paid. The IRS assessed the penalties because the company did not pay the taxes electronically as required by law. In Fallu Productions, Inc. v. United States et al., No. 1:06-cv-13248 (USDC SD NY), the court ruled that the “increased efficiency of the EFTPS [Electronic Federal Tax Payment System] provides reasonable justification for requiring…the system.” Furthermore, “the imposition of FTD [federal tax deposit] penalties when taxes are not deposited electronically as required does not violate taxpayers’ due process rights.”