Vision Payroll

According to the US Department of Labor, in the week ending January 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 470,000, a decrease of 8,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 478,000. The 4-week moving average was 456,250, an increase of 9,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 446,750.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.5% for the week ending January 16, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week’s revised rate of 3.6%.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending January 16 was 4,602,000, a decrease of 57,000 from the preceding week’s revised level of 4,659,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,669,250, a decrease of 94,250 from the preceding week’s revised average of 4,763,500.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.404 million.

The US Department of Labor (DOL) has released updated COBRA model notices to help employers meet the notification requirements created by the passage of the Department of Defense Appropriation Act, 2010 (2010 DOD Act). The notices are the Updated General Notice, the Premium Assistance Extension Notice, and the Updated Alternative Notice.

Plans subject to the Federal COBRA provisions must provide the Updated General Notice to all qualified beneficiaries (not just covered employees) who experienced a qualifying event at any time from September 1, 2008 through February 28, 2010, regardless of the type of qualifying event, and who have not yet been provided an election notice. This model notice includes updated information on the premium reduction as well as information required in a COBRA election notice.

Plan administrators must provide notice to certain individuals who have already been provided a COBRA election notice that did not include information regarding the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), as amended. This model Premium Assistance Extension Notice includes information about the changes made to the premium reduction provisions of ARRA by the 2010 DOD Act. Listed below are the affected individuals and the associated timing requirements.

• Individuals who were “assistance eligible individuals” as of October 31, 2009 (unless they are in a transition period – see below), and individuals who experienced a termination of employment on or after October 31, 2009 and lost health coverage (unless they were already provided a timely, Updated General Notice) must be provided notice of the changes made to the premium reduction provisions of ARRA by the 2010 DOD Act by February 17, 2010;
• Individuals who are in a “transition period” must be provided this notice within 60 days of the first day of the transition period. An individual’s “transition period” is the period that begins immediately after the end of the maximum number of months (generally nine) of premium reduction available under ARRA prior to its amendment. An individual is in a transition period only if the premium reduction provisions would continue to apply due to the extension from nine to 15 months and they otherwise remain eligible for the premium reduction.

Insurance issuers that provide group health insurance coverage must send the Updated Alternative Notice to persons who became eligible for continuation coverage under a State law. Continuation coverage requirements vary among States and issuers should modify this model notice as necessary to conform it to the applicable State law. Issuers may also find the model Premium Assistance Extension Notice or the Updated General Notice appropriate for use in certain situations.

Vision Payroll recommends employers consult with their benefit broker, COBRA administrator, and labor law attorney to ensure compliance with the updated notice requirements.

According to the California Employment Development Department (EDD), employers in the county of San Bernardino directly affected by the damage resulting from the severe 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). 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.

According to the California Employment Development Department (EDD), employers in the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Francisco and Siskiyou directly affected by the damage resulting from the severe 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). 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 12, codes.

Enter codes and amounts in boxes 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d. The letters a, b, c, and d do not relate to the codes, but are strictly for identification purposes. If an employee has code C for $100 and that is the only code for that employee, the employer may enter code C in box 12a; it does not need to be entered in box 12c. If filing copy A on paper, enter only four codes on one Form W-2. Employers should use multiple forms for employees with more than four codes. There is no limit on the number of codes on any other copy of Form W-2. Enter the code and amount without dollar signs or commas.

The codes and their descriptions are as follows:

Employers should combine elective deferrals and elective catch-up contributions into one sum and report under the appropriate elective deferral plan code.

The next topic in this continuing series will be Box 13, checkboxes. 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 11, nonqualified plans.

Box 11 shows the amount of distributions from a nonqualified plan or a nongovernmental §457(b) plan. These distributions should also be reported in box 1. Distributions from governmental §457(b) plans are not reported in this box.

Box 11 should show deferrals and earnings that became taxable for social security and Medicare purposes in 2009 because the deferrals and earnings were no longer subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture, but only if the amounts were for services before 2009 and no distributions were made in 2009. These amounts must also be reported in box 3, up to the $106,800 wage limit, and box 5.

Box 11 should not be used for deferrals that are included in box 3, up to the wage limit, and box 5 and that are for services performed in 2009.

Box 11 should also not be used when payments are made from a nonqualified plan and deferrals are included in box 3, up to the wage limit, and box 5. Employers should use Form SSA-131, Employer Report of Special Wage Payments. Generally the employer should report the amount from box 1 of Form W-2, plus any amounts deferred during 2009, less any payments from the nonqualified plan.

Assume Cameron retired during 2009. He earned $50,000 in wages, but deferred $35,000 of that amount in a nonqualified deferred compensation plan. Since he retired, he also received $75,000 in payments from the plan. Since there are both distributions and deferrals in 2009, no amount is reported in box 11. Box 11 should also not be used to report special wage payments earned in a prior year such as accrued sick pay or vacation pay. These amounts should be reported on Form SSA-131, however, so that the Social Security Administration may accurately calculate the recipient’s social security benefits.

The next topic in this continuing series will be Box 12, codes. Contact Vision Payroll with any questions on the 2009 Form W-2.

This week’s question comes from Rachael, a receptionist. I just filed my 2009 tax returns. Usually I get a big refund, but this year my refund was a lot less. My income and deductions are pretty much the same as in 2008. Why did my federal income tax refund go down? Answer: Your income tax refund is based on many factors, but one important factor to consider is the amount of federal income tax withheld. Last February, the Internal Revenue Service released revised withholding tables that increased most taxpayers’ take-home pay by reducing the amount of federal income tax withheld. These tables reflected changes mandated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, including the Making Work Pay Credit. Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions.

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.