The Internal Revenue Service released information on how employees now have until the end of the year to repay any payroll taxes they deferred from last year.
Former President Trump issued a presidential memorandum last August allowing Social Security taxes to be deferred for the rest of 2020, but under the order they had to be repaid by April 30, 2021. The coronavirus relief package that Congress passed last month extended the repayment period until the end of this year.
Relatively few companies actually implemented the payroll deferral for their employees because there was no guarantee that the deferred payroll taxes would ultimately be forgiven by Congress. However, federal employees and military service members were still required to accept the payroll tax deferral, meaning those taxpayers will be facing smaller paychecks later this year.
Jamie Yesnowitz is a principal and SALT National Tax Office leader at Grant Thornton LLP.
Jill C. McNally, JD, LL.M., is an editor with Checkpoint within Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting. Before joining Thomson Reuters, Jill was a Deputy Attorney General for the State of New Jersey representing the New Jersey Division of Taxation in all phases of litigation and provided counsel to state agencies involving tax matters. Jill received her B.A. and M.A. from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, summa cum laude, her J.D. from New York Law School, cum laude, and an Executive LL.M. from Georgetown University. Jill is admitted to the State Bars of New York and New Jersey.
Sarah Horn, M.Acc., J.D., is an editor with Checkpoint Catalyst within Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting. Before joining Thomson Reuters, Sarah was a tax attorney at ExxonMobil, where her work included a variety of state and federal tax matters. Sarah received her B.A. and B.S. from Southern Methodist University, summa cum laude, her Master of Accounting from The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business, and her J.D. from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, cum laude. Sarah is admitted to the State Bar of Texas.
In Notice 2021-11, the IRS on Tuesday explained how employers who deferred payroll taxes on behalf of their employees can withhold and pay the deferred taxes throughout 2021 instead of just within the first four months of the year.
The deferral applied to employees who were paid less than $4,000 every two weeks, or an equivalent amount for other pay periods, with each pay period considered separately. The taxes, which are technically called Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance, or OASDI, are calculated at 6.2 percent of employees’ wages.
Notice 2021-11 makes changes to last year’s Notice 2020-65 to reflect the extended payment period. Payments made by Jan. 3, 2022, will be considered to be timely because Dec. 31, 2021, is a legal holiday. However, any penalties, interest and additions to tax will now start to apply on Jan. 1, 2022, for any unpaid balances
The IRS cautioned that employees could see their deferred taxes being collected immediately, so employees should check with their organization’s payroll point of contact on what their collection schedule will be.
