Vision Payroll

This week’s question comes from Toni, an office manager. In February, you wrote that implementation of the new Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, had been delayed. When do I need to start using the new Form I-9? Answer: The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a component of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has released the revised Form I-9, and its Spanish equivalent, Formulario I-9, Verificación de Elegibilida para el Empleo. Employers are required to use the revised forms starting today, April 3, 2009. The list of documents eligible for the employment verification process has also been revised, including the elimination of expired documents as acceptable verification documents.

Contact Vision Payroll or click the Form I-9 tag if you have any questions on the revised Form I-9.

According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending March 28, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 669,000, an increase of 12,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 657,000. The 4-week moving average was 656,750, an increase of 6,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 650,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.3% for the week ending March 21, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 4.2%.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending March 21 was 5,728,000, an increase of 161,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 5,567,000. The 4-week moving average was 5,496,500, an increase of 163,500 from the preceding week’s revised average of 5,333,000.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 4.700 million.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released a revised version of Publication 919, How Do I Adjust My Tax Withholding?, to reflect changes from the Making Work Pay credit implemented as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The IRS was concerned that two-earner families, employees with multiple jobs, and pension recipients may be under-withheld due to the changes in withholding tables mandated by ARRA. As a result, taxpayers could owe several hundred or thousands of dollars when filing their 2009 tax returns next year. The IRS recommends that taxpayers use new Worksheet 12, Making Work Pay Credit Worksheet (Including Special Credit for Government Retirees), from Publication 919 to adjust their withholding if necessary.

Contact Vision Payroll if you have questions on this topic.