Vision Payroll

According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending June 25, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 428,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week’s unrevised figure of 429,000. The 4-week moving average was 426,750, an increase of 500 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 426,250.

Advance Seasonally Adjusted Insured Unemployment Rate Remains Unchanged

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.9% for the week ending June 18, a decrease of 0.1 percentage points from the prior week’s revised rate of 3.0%.

Advance Seasonally Adjusted Insured Unemployment Decreases

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending June 18 was 3,702,000, a decrease of 12,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 3,714,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,703,500, a decrease of 11,250 from the preceding week’s revised average of 3,714,750.

Most employers nationwide will receive an employment tax reduction July 1, 2011 when the temporary FUTA surtax expires. The temporary surtax was enacted in 1976. The standard FUTA tax rate will decrease from 6.2% to 6.0%.

Standard Credit Rate is 5.4% for 2011

Generally, employers who pay their state unemployment tax by the due date for filing Form 940, Employer’s Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return receive a credit 5.4% against their Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) tax. This credit is claimed on Form 940. Therefore, for 2011, many employers will pay an effective rate of 0.8% for wages paid from January 1, 2011 to June 30, 2011 and 0.6% for wages paid from July 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011.

FUTA Wage Base is $7,000 for 2011

The FUTA wage base for 2011 is $7,000. Since many employees have already been paid $7,000 in wages during 2011, no reduced tax will apply for those employees.

Credit Reduction Will Apply in Some States

Unless Congress changes the law, as many as thirty-eight states could be credit reduction states in 2011. Michigan would have a credit reduction of 0.9%, Indiana and South Carolina would have credit reductions of 0.6%, and all other states would have credit reductions of 0.3%. If these states are determined to be credit reduction states in November, the effective rates for the second half of 2011 would be 1.5% for Michigan employers, 1.2% for Indiana and South Carolina employers, and 0.9% for all other credit reduction state employers.

Vision Payroll Will Calculate the Appreciate FUTA Tax for All Employers

Employers in every state can contact Vision Payroll for assistance in determining their FUTA tax rate for 2011 and for assistance in filing Form 940.

The standard mileage rates for the use of automobiles beginning July 1, 2011 will be 55.5 cents per mile for business miles driven and 23.5 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes the Internal Revenue Service announced in Announcement 2011-40 and News Release IR-2011-69.

Both Rates Are Higher than First Six Months of 2011

The new rates are changed from 51 cents per mile for business travel and 19 cents per mile for moving and medical travel for the first six months of 2011.

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 the Updated 2011 Mileage Rates

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

Monday, July 4, 2011 will be Independence Day, a federal holiday. The offices of Vision Payroll will close July 1 at 5 pm EDT and re-open Tuesday July 5. Most banks will also be closed in observance of the holiday.

Date Paid	Process Deadline
7/04/2011	6/29/2011
7/05/2011	6/30/2011
7/06/2011	7/01/2011

Payroll Dates May Be Affected by Independence Day

Payrolls dated July 4 will be paid July 1 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 July 7.

Labor Day Is Next Federal Holiday

The next federal holiday will be Monday, September 5, 2011, Labor Day. Contact Vision Payroll as soon as possible to make changes to or for questions on your processing schedule.