Vision Payroll

This week’s question comes from Abby, a company vice-president. We’re planning to give out bonuses to our employees. How much time do we need to process a bonus payroll? Answer: Vision Payroll recommends that you schedule bonus payrolls as soon as possible. You’ll need at least two business days after the day you plan to transmit the bonus amounts in order to process and ship the payroll. If you schedule the bonuses early, Vision Payroll can work with you to help ensure that you receive your bonus checks when you need them.

According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending November 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 466,000, a decrease of 35,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 501,000. The 4-week moving average was 496,500, a decrease of 16,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 513,000.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.1% for the week ending November 14, a decrease of 0.2 percentage points from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 4.3%.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending November 14 was 5,423,000, a decrease of 190,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 5,613,000. The 4-week moving average was 5,613,750, a decrease of 98,500 from the preceding week’s revised average of 5,712,250.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.866 million.

In IR-2009-107, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that interest rates for the first quarter of 2010 would remain unchanged from the fourth quarter. The rates are as follows:

• Four (4) percent for overpayments [three (3) percent in the case of a corporation];
• Four (4) percent for underpayments;
• Six (6) percent for large corporate underpayments; and
• One and one-half (1.5) percent for the portion of a corporate overpayment exceeding $10,000.

The IRS will publish the rates in Revenue Ruling 2009-37. Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on the first quarter rates.

In Notice 2009-91, Withholding on Wages of Nonresident Alien Employees Performing Services Within the United States, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) modified the procedures for calculating the amount of federal income tax to be withheld from wages paid to nonresident aliens starting on January 1, 2010. Since nonresident aliens are not eligible for the Making Work Pay Tax Credit, the withholding procedures must be modified to reflect this difference. According to Notice 2009-91:

First, employers need to add an amount to wages before determining withholding under the wage bracket or percentage method in order to offset the standard deduction built into the withholding tables. Second, employers need to determine an additional amount of withholding from a separate table applicable only to nonresident alien employees to offset the effect of the Making Work Pay Tax Credit built into the withholding tables. The specific steps to be followed for each of these two modifications will be set forth in Publication 15 and other IRS forms or publications.

Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on Notice 2009-91.

In Notice 2009-93, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced the creation of a pilot program to allow certain filers of Form 1098, Forms 1099, and Form 5498 to truncate an individual’s nine-digit identifying number on paper copies of the payee statements. The three types of numbers are the social security number, the IRS individual taxpayer identification number, and the IRS adoption taxpayer identification number. The purpose is to reduce the risk of misuse of a person’s identifying number through misappropriation from the payee statement.

There are three requirements that must be met for a filer to qualify for the pilot program. They are:

1. The identifying number is a social security number, IRS individual taxpayer identification number, or IRS adoption taxpayer identification number;
2. The identifying number is truncated by replacing the first five digits of the nine-digit number with asterisks or Xs (for example, a social security number 123-45-6789 would appear on the paper payee statement as ***-**-6789 or XXX-XX-6789); and
3. The truncated identifying number appears on a paper payee statement (including substitute and composite substitute statements) in the Form 1098 series, Form 1099 series, or Form 5498 series for calendar year 2009 or 2010.

The notice also invites public comments on specific areas. Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on Notice 2009-93.

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development has announced an increase in the taxable wage base for 2010. The wage base will increase from $7,000 for 2009 to $9,500 for 2010. Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on Indiana unemployment taxable wage base or visit our Unemployment Taxable Wage Base page.

The Employment Security Division of the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation has announced an increase in the taxable wage base for 2010. The wage base will increase from $26,600 for 2009 to $27,000 for 2010. Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on Nevada unemployment taxable wage base or visit our Unemployment Taxable Wage Base page.

This week’s question is from Mariana, an HR Manager. We are reviewing our payroll processing schedule for 2010. What is the holiday schedule for 2010? Answer: There are two types of holidays: those on which payrolls are processed and those on which payrolls are not processed. In addition, companies should also consider that there is no mail pickup or delivery on federal holidays. UPS may pickup and deliver on certain holidays, but may not pickup or deliver on other days that are not holidays. Consult the UPS website for further information. The schedule for 2010 holidays is as follows:

According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending November 14, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 505,000, unchanged from the previous week’s revised figure of 505,000. The 4-week moving average was 514,000, a decrease of 6,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 520,500.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.3% for the week ending November 7, unchanged from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 4.3%.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending November 7 was 5,611,000, a decrease of 39,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 5,650,000. The 4-week moving average was 5,711,500, a decrease of 83,500 from the preceding week’s revised average of 5,795,000.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.992 million.

Employee departures can drain time, energy, resources and morale if not done well. These resources will help you make sure that when you need to let employees go, the process is as smooth and effective as possible. Our Termination Quick Guide will help you institute effective practices and systems for your termination process. Learn the five top tips for managing the termination process and download a checklist to help you manage the flow from MyHRSupportCenter. In addition to these helpful tools, the Quick Guide also contains sections with forms, templates and guidelines, relevant articles, and relevant information.

To learn more be sure to login to MyHRSupportCenter, click Quick Guides, then Termination. If you’re not yet signed up or would like a free trial of MyHRSupportCenter, contact Vision Payroll today.