Vision Payroll

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 7, social security tips.

Box 7 shows the amount of tips reported by employees. In many situations, the cash wages paid are insufficient to collect the entire amount of social security and Medicare tax. Reported tips must still be shown in this box, even if social security or Medicare tax was not withheld on them. For 2009, the combined total of Boxes 3 and 7 cannot exceed $106,800. The reported tips should be included with amounts reported in Box 1, wages, tips, other compensation and Box 5, Medicare wages and tips. Since social security benefits are based on the amount of social security tips reported to the Social Security Administration (SSA), it is important that employees periodically review their social security earnings record and provide the SSA with the Form W-2 to update any incorrectly posted earnings records.

The next topic in this continuing series will be Box 8, allocated tips. 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 6, Medicare tax withheld.

Box 6 shows the total amount of employee Medicare withheld, including the amount withheld on tips. It does not include any employer contribution toward Medicare on the employee’s behalf. The 2009 rate was 1.45% and unlike social security, there is no taxable wage base. Therefore, there is no upper limit to the amount entered in this box. If the employer paid the employee’s share of such taxes rather than withholding them, the tax must be grossed up and included in boxes 1, 3, and 5.

The next topic in this continuing series will be Box 7, social security tips. Contact Vision Payroll with any questions on the 2009 Form W-2.

Nonfarm payroll employment edged down (-85,000) in December, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 10.0%, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported recently. Employment fell in construction, manufacturing, and wholesale trade, while temporary help services and health care added jobs.

In December, both the number of unemployed persons, at 15.3 million, and the unemployment rate, at 10.0%, were unchanged. At the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons was 7.7 million, and the unemployment rate was 5.0%.

Unemployment rates for the major worker groups–adult men (10.2%), adult women (8.2%), teenagers (27.1%), whites (9.0%), blacks (16.2%), and Hispanics (12.9%)–showed little change in December. The unemployment rate for Asians was 8.4%, not seasonally adjusted.

Among the unemployed, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) continued to trend up, reaching 6.1 million. In December, 4 in 10 unemployed workers were jobless for 27 weeks or longer.

The civilian labor force participation rate fell to 64.6% in December. The employment-population ratio declined to 58.2%.

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was about unchanged at 9.2 million in December and has been relatively flat since March. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.

About 2.5 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force in December, an increase of 578,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.

Among the marginally attached, there were 929,000 discouraged workers in December, up from 642,000 a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.6 million persons marginally attached to the labor force had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities.

This week’s question comes from Perry, an office manager. I’ve registered my business with the Massachusetts Division of Unemployment Assistance (DUA). How do I register Vision Payroll as my TPA in QUEST? Answer: Once you have completed activating your QUEST account on-line and established your permanent password and PIN at www.mass.gov/uima, log in to your account, select and execute the following:

From the Employer Home page:

Select the Account Maintenance page

Select the Third Party Administrator (TPA) Authorization link

Click the ‘NEW’ button

Enter Vision Payroll’s ID Number 100028 and click ‘NEXT’

Vision Payroll’s name will appear.

Select the current day’s date (mm/dd/yyyy) when asked when services are commencing

Leave the service end date field blank

Assign the following roles to Vision Payroll by clicking on the appropriate boxes displayed:

• Account Maintenance Update and Submit
• Payments Update and Submit
• Employment and Wage Detail Update and Submit

Click the ‘Save’ button

Return to the home page and log off the web site

Vision Payroll will then have authorization to provide the same filing services through QUEST as have been performed in the past. Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on QUEST.

According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending January 2, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 434,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 433,000. The 4-week moving average was 450,250, a decrease of 10,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 460,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.6% for the week ending December 26, a decrease of 0.2 percentage points from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 3.8%.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending December 26 was 4,802,000, a decrease of 179,000 from the preceding week’s unrevised level of 4,981,000. The 4-week moving average was 5,005,750, a decrease of 95,250 from the preceding week’s unrevised average of 5,101,000.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.565 million.

Last December, President Barack Obama had authorized to deploy more than 30,000 troops for military service which would impact a greater number of employees and their employers. Earlier in October, President Obama had signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which includes provisions expanding military leave entitlements of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) by broadening the “qualifying exigency” leave and military caregiver leave that became effective in January 2008.

Do you know what qualifying exigency leave is and which employees are eligible? Are you familiar with military caregiver leave and how the benefits to employees have been expanded? Have you completed the action items needed to update company policies and your employee handbook?

If your answers to these questions make you realize there’s work to be done, be sure to read this month’s featured article by the HR pros at MyHRSupportCenter, Expanded Military Leave and the FMLA. If you’re not yet signed up or would like a free trial of MyHRSupportCenter, contact Vision Payroll today.

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 5, Medicare wages and tips.

Box 5 shows the total amount of wages subject to Medicare tax. For most employees, this amount equals the sum of boxes 3 and 7, with one exception. There is no limit on the amount of Medicare wages as there is with social security wages. Additionally, depending on the date of hire, some governmental employees may have Medicare wages, but not social security wages.

The next topic in this continuing series will be Box 6, Medicare tax withheld. Contact Vision Payroll with any questions on the 2009 Form W-2.

Monday, January 18, 2010 will be the Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., a federal holiday. Although the offices of Vision Payroll will be open and payrolls will be processed, most banks will be closed in observance of the holiday.

Payrolls dated January 18 will be paid January 15 unless a previous change in schedule has been submitted. Payrolls submitted after these processing deadlines will be pushed back until the next available processing day. No changes are required for payrolls dated January 21.

The next federal holiday will be Monday, February 15, 2010, Washington’s Birthday. Contact Vision Payroll as soon as possible to make changes to or for questions on your processing schedule.

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 4, social security tax withheld.

Box 4 shows the total amount of employee social security tax withheld, including the amount withheld on tips. It does not include any employer contribution toward social security on the employee’s behalf. Since the 2009 rate was 6.2% and the taxable wage base was $106,800, the amount in this box should not exceed $6,621.60. If the employer paid the employee’s share of such taxes rather than withholding them, the tax must be grossed up and included in boxes 1, 3, and 5.

The next topic in this continuing series will be Box 5, Medicare wages and tips. 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 3, social security wages.

Box 3 shows the amount wages paid subject to social security tax. It does not include social security tips reported in box 7 or allocated tips reported in box 8. Wages should be reduced by amounts withheld for non-taxable benefits elected under §125 plans, certain clergy housing allowances, and third-party sick pay after the end of six calendar months after the calendar month that the employee last worked for the employer. For 2009, the combined total of boxes 3 and 7 cannot exceed $106,800. Since social security benefits are based on the amount of social security wages reported to the Social Security Administration (SSA), it is important that employees periodically review their social security earnings record and provide the SSA with the Form W-2 to update any incorrectly posted earnings records.

The next topic in this continuing series will be Box 4, social security tax withheld. Contact Vision Payroll with any questions on the 2009 Form W-2.