Vision Payroll

According to the California Employment Development Department (EDD), employers in the county of Tuolumne directly affected by the winter storms 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).

Tuolumne County in a Declared State of Emergency Due to Winter Storms

Written request for extension must be received within 60 days from the original delinquent date of the payment or return to file/pay.

Vision Payroll Can Assist Tuolumne County Clients with Extension Application

Contact Vision Payroll if you’ve been affected and need to file the extension request.

This week’s question comes from Carl, a corporate controller. I received a notice from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) about Federal Tax Deposit coupons titled, You can no longer make required deposits using Form 8109/8109-B. Why did I receive a notice about Federal Tax Deposit coupons? Answer: As previously announced, the IRS will discontinue accepting paper coupons for Federal Tax Deposits after December 31, 2010.

Updated Guidance Issued by the IRS

Updated guidance was announced in TD 9507 (REG153340-09), published in the Federal Register on December 7, 2010. The Explanation of Provision and Summary of Comments was broken into several sub-topics.

1. Burden on Small Businesses
2. Alternative Payment Methods
3. Raising the De Minimis Amounts
4. Security and Distrust of Electronic Payment Systems
5. EFTPS Registration
6. Foreign Taxpayers
7. One-Day Rule
8. Delay the January 1, 2011 Effective Date
9. Business Days and Legal Holidays
10. Other Differences From the Proposed Regulations

Taxpayers Must Make Most Payments Electronically

Most taxpayers must make all payments electronically. Small employers (those whose tax liability on the return is less than $2,500) have three options to make payments:

• Remit employment taxes with their quarterly or annual tax return,
• Voluntarily make deposits by EFT, or
• Use other methods of payment as provided by the instructions relating to the return.

Vision Payroll Makes Federal Tax Payments Using EFTPS

Vision Payroll makes all federal payroll tax deposits and payments using EFTPS. Additional payments for taxes such as federal income taxes and federal excise taxes may be made for clients by Vision Payroll. Previous registration is required so contact Vision Payroll today to get started.

According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending December 4, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 421,000, a decrease of 17,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 438,000. The 4-week moving average was 427,500, a decrease of 4,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 431,500.

Advance Seasonally Adjusted Insured Unemployment Rate Decreases

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.2% for the week ending November 27, a decrease of 0.2 percentage points from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 3.4%.

Advance Seasonally Adjusted Insured Unemployment Increases

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending November 27 was 4,086,000, a decrease of 191,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 4,277,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,226,000, a decrease of 64,250 from the preceding week’s revised average of 4,290,250.

The standard mileage rates for the use of automobiles beginning January 1, 2011 will be 51 cents per mile for business miles driven and 19 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes the Internal Revenue Service announced in Revenue Procedure 2010-51 and News Release IR-2010-119.

Both Rates Are Higher than 2010 Rates

The new rates are changed from 50 cents per mile for business travel and 16.5 cents per mile for moving and medical travel for 2010.

Charitable Rate Remains Unchanged

The rate for miles driven in service of charitable organizations remains the same at 14 cents per mile.

Contact Vision Payroll for More Information on 2011 Mileage Rates

Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on 2011 mileage rates or visit our Important Facts and Figures page for further information.

According to the California Employment Development Department (EDD), employers in the county of San Diego directly affected by the massive stockpile of highly explosive materials 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).

San Diego County in a Declared State of Emergency Due to So-Called “Bomb Factory”

Written request for extension must be received within 60 days from the original delinquent date of the payment or return to file/pay.

Vision Payroll Can Assist San Diego County Clients with Extension Application

Contact Vision Payroll if you’ve been affected and need to file the extension request.

Saturday, December 25, 2010 will be Christmas Day, a federal holiday. The offices of Vision Payroll will close Christmas Eve, December 24 at 2 pm EST and re-open Monday December 27. Most banks will also be closed in observance of the holiday. Payroll changes and hours must be submitted before the processing deadlines as listed below.

Date Paid	Process Deadline
12/24/2010	12/22/2010
12/27/2010	12/22/2010
12/28/2010	12/23/2010
12/29/2010	12/27/2010

Payroll Dates May be Affected by Christmas Day

Payrolls dated December 25 will be paid December 24 unless a previous change in schedule has been submitted.

New Year’s Day Is Next Federal Holiday

Due to heavy USPS and UPS delivery requirements as well as limited bank hours and staffing, we strongly recommend submitting payrolls during this time as early as practicable. UPS does not ship ground deliveries received on December 24 until December 27 so we do not recommend submitting payrolls on that date. The next federal holiday will be January 1, 2011, New Year’s Day. Contact Vision Payroll as soon as possible to make changes to or for questions on your processing schedule.

According to the California Employment Development Department (EDD), employers in the county of Calaveras directly affected by the severe storms 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).

Calaveras County in a Declared State of Emergency Due to Icy Roads and Freezing Temperatures

Written request for extension must be received within 60 days from the original delinquent date of the payment or return to file/pay.

Vision Payroll Can Assist Calaveras County Clients with Extension Application

Contact Vision Payroll if you’ve been affected and need to file the extension request.

The unemployment rate edged up to 9.8% in November, and nonfarm payroll employment was little changed (+39,000), the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported recently. Temporary help services and health care continued to add jobs over the month, while employment fell in retail trade. Employment in most major industries changed little in November.

Household Survey Data

The number of unemployed persons was 15.1 million in November. The unemployment rate edged up to 9.8%; it was 9.6% in each of the prior 3 months.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (10.0%), adult women (8.4%), whites (8.9%), and Hispanics (13.2%) edged up in November. The jobless rate for blacks (16.0%) showed little change over the month, while the rate for teenagers declined to 24.6%. The jobless rate for Asians was 7.6%, not seasonally adjusted.

Among the unemployed, the number of job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs rose by 390,000 to 9.5 million in November. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) was little changed at 6.3 million and accounted for 41.9% of the unemployed.

The civilian labor force participation rate held at 64.5% in November, and the employment population ratio was essentially unchanged at 58.2%.

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was little changed over the month at 9.0 million. 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 November, up from 2.3 million 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 1.3 million discouraged workers in November, an increase of 421,000 from 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 1.2 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 Julian, a sole-proprietor. After being laid-off from my job, I have decided to open my own business as a sole proprietor. Where can I find due dates for tax payments and filings? Answer: Each year, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) releases Publication 509, Tax Calendars, for use during the following tax year.

Publication 509 Gives Due Dates for Many Items

A tax calendar is a 12-month calendar divided into quarters. The calendar gives specific due dates for the following.

• Filing tax forms.
• Paying taxes.
• Taking other actions required by federal tax law.

Publication 509 Is not Just a Tax Calendar

Though the title of Publication 509 is Tax Calendars, it includes more than just a single tax calendar. It contains:

• A section on how to use the calendars.
• A general tax calendar.
• An employer’s tax calendar.
• An excise tax calendar.
• A table showing the semi-weekly deposit due dates for 2011.

Four Advantages of Using a Tax Calendar

1. You do not have to figure the due dates yourself.
2. You can file or pay timely and avoid penalties.
3. You do not have to adjust the due dates for Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays.
4. You do not have to adjust the due dates for special banking rules if you use the Employer’s Tax Calendar or Excise Tax Calendar.

Vision Payroll Has Implemented the 2011 Due Dates in Its Tax Calculation Software

Contact Vision Payroll for further information on Publication 509.

According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending November 27, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 436,000, an increase of 26,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 410,000. The 4-week moving average was 431,000, a decrease of 5,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 436,750.

Advance Seasonally Adjusted Insured Unemployment Rate Remains Unchanged

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.4% for the week ending November 20, unchanged from the prior week’s revised rate of 3.4%.

Advance Seasonally Adjusted Insured Unemployment Increases

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending November 20 was 4,270,000, an increase of 53,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 4,217,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,288,500, a decrease of 29,250 from the preceding week’s revised average of 4,317,750.