Vision Payroll

According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending January 16, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 482,000, an increase of 36,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 446,000. The 4-week moving average was 448,250, an increase of 7,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 441,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.5% for the week ending January 9, unchanged from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 3.5%.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending January 9 was 4,599,000, a decrease of 18,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 4,617,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,750,500, a decrease of 109,750 from the preceding week’s revised average of 4,860,250.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.412 million.

Do you need to know the most important employment legislation, HR case laws, workplace trends, and major employee issues anticipated for 2010 and how they affect employers? In this month’s HRCast, a recording provided by our team of HR Pros and available exclusively on MyHRSupportCenter, you’ll learn more about these seven hot HR topics:

1. Employment Litigation
2. Social Networking
3. Expanded FMLA and Military Leave
4. Pandemic Illness Preparedness
5. ARRA COBRA Subsidies
6. Health Care Reform
7. Employee Free Choice Act

Visit MyHRSupportCenter regularly not only for our HRCasts, but also to get late-breaking compliance alerts, best practices to implement, and HR tools to use every day. If you’re not yet signed up or would like a free trial of MyHRSupportCenter, contact Vision Payroll today.

According to the New Hampshire Department of Employment Security, because of the amount of unemployment benefits that were paid out over the last couple of years there have been legislative changes made. The department invoked RSA282-A: 84 – Emergency Power for the last 3 quarters of 2009, which added a 0.5% surcharge onto all employer tax rates. For all quarters of 2010, a full 1.0% surcharge will be added to all employer tax rates. Negative rated employers (employers whose benefit charges exceeded tax paid) will have a 1.5% added to their tax rates in addition to the 1.0% surcharge for all quarters of 2010.

New Employer rates for all quarters of 2010 will be 3.7% (includes 1.0% surcharge). Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on the Emergency Power Surcharge.

According to the California Employment Development Department (EDD), employers in the county of Humboldt directly affected by the damage resulting from the earthquake may request up to a 60-day extension of time from EDD to file their State payroll reports and/or deposit State payroll taxes without penalty or interest. This extension may be granted under Section 1111.5 of the California Unemployment Insurance Code (CUIC). Written request for extension must be received within 60 days from the original delinquent date of the payment or return to file/pay. Contact Vision Payroll if you’ve been affected and need to file the extension request.

This is one in a continuing series on the 2009 Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, which employers must generally furnish to employees no later than February 1, 2010. Forms mailed on the due date are considered furnished if properly addressed. Employers unable to meet that deadline may file a request for extension of time to furnish the forms. Today we review Box 10, dependent care benefits.

Box 10 shows the amount paid or incurred by the employer under §129 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) for dependent care assistance provided to the employee if the assistance is furnished pursuant to a “dependent care assistance program” under that section. This box should include amounts paid or incurred for dependent care assistance in an IRC §125 (cafeteria) plan. The fair market value of any employer-sponsored or employer-provided day care facilities should also be included. Even though there is an annual exclusion limit of $5,000, the total amount paid or incurred must be reported in box 10. Amounts over $5,000 must also be reported in boxes 1 and 5 and box 3, subject to the wage limitation. Amounts that cannot be excluded for other reasons such as benefits for highly compensated employees in plans described in IRC §129(d), must also be reported in boxes 1 and 5 and box 3, subject to the wage limitation.

The next topic in this continuing series will be Box 11, nonqualified plans. Contact Vision Payroll with any questions on the 2009 Form W-2.

This is one in a continuing series on the 2009 Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, which employers must generally furnish to employees no later than February 1, 2010. Forms mailed on the due date are considered furnished if properly addressed. Employers unable to meet that deadline may file a request for extension of time to furnish the forms. Today we review Box 9, advance EIC payment.

Box 9 shows the amount of any advance EIC (earned income credit) payment paid to the employee. Employees must meet four criteria and file Form W-5, Earned Income Credit Advance Payment Certificate in order to receive advance EIC payments. For 2009, the maximum advance EIC was $1,826. Employees entitled to additional EIC are eligible to receive it when filing Form 1040, US Individual Income Tax Return.

The next topic in this continuing series will be Box 10, dependent care benefits. Contact Vision Payroll with any questions on the 2009 Form W-2.

This week’s question comes from Sarah, a household employer. I withheld payroll taxes from my household employees. How do I report and pay payroll taxes for household employees? Answer: Household employers should prepare and file Schedule H (Form 1040), Household Employment Taxes to report and pay payroll taxes if they answer yes to any of the following three questions:

1. Did you pay any one household employee cash wages of $1,700 or more in 2009?
2. Did you withhold federal income tax during 2009 for any household employee?
3. Did you pay total cash wages of $1,000 or more in any calendar quarter of 2008 or 2009 to all household employees?

Household employers should attach Schedule H to Form 1040, Form 1040NR, Form 1040-SS, or Form 1041 if filing any of those forms. If not, Schedule H must be filed separately. Vision Payroll prepares a Schedule H suitable for filing for its household employers. Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on Schedule H.

According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending January 9, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 444,000, an increase of 11,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 433,000. The 4-week moving average was 440,750, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 449,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.5% for the week ending January 2, a decrease of 0.1 percentage points from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 3.6%.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending January 2 was 4,596,000, a decrease of 211,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 4,807,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,855,000, a decrease of 151,500 from the preceding week’s revised average of 5,006,500.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.448 million.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently released 2010 Form W-5, Earned Income Credit Advance Payment Certificate. There are four criteria for claiming advance earned income credit (EIC) payments.

1. Taxpayer (and spouse if filing jointly) must have a valid social security number.
2. Taxpayer (or spouse if filing jointly) must have at least one qualifying child and be able to claim the credit using that child.
3. Taxpayer’s expected earned income and adjusted gross income must be less than $35,535 ($40,545 if filing jointly).
4. Taxpayer must expect to claim the EIC for 2010.

The maximum credit taxpayers may receive in advance is $1,830. Eligible taxpayers must file a new Form W-5 for 2010. The 2009 Form W-5 expired December 31, 2009. Contact Vision Payroll if you have any question on Form W-5.

This is one in a continuing series on the 2009 Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, which employers must generally furnish to employees no later than February 1, 2010. Forms mailed on the due date are considered furnished if properly addressed. Employers unable to meet that deadline may file a request for extension of time to furnish the forms. Today we review Box 8, allocated tips.

Box 8 shows the amount of allocated tips. Large food and beverage establishments use Form 8027, Employee’s Annual Information Return of Tip Income and Allocated Tips to determine the amount of tips to report in Box 8. A large food and beverage establishment meets all three of the following criteria:

1. Food or beverage is provided for consumption on the premises.
2. Tipping is a customary practice.
3. More than 10 employees who work more than 80 hours were normally employed on a typical business day during the preceding calendar year.

The amount in this box is not to be reported in Boxes 1, 3, 5, or 7.

The next topic in this continuing series will be Box 9, advance EIC payment. Contact Vision Payroll with any questions on the 2009 Form W-2.