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.
Peter Nelson is vice president of product management at Global Healthcare Exchange (GHX). He is an expert in the fields of healthcare technology and supply chain management.
Jeff Zimmerman is COO of Clearent.
Barbara Byrne is a vice chairman within the investment bank at Barclays. Based in New York, and with over 35 years of financial services experience, Barbara has been at the forefront of developing and leading longstanding partnerships with some of Barclays’ most important multinational, corporate clients. Responsible for leading cross business teams in delivering the firm’s products and services to those clients, Barbara is the primary architect of several of the firm’s marquee transactions. She has held senior management positions in energy and technology banking groups throughout her career, and has led diverse strategic advisory initiatives across the firm focused on enhancing clients’ global market position.
Additionally, Barbara is chairman of both Barclays’ Americans Citizenship Council, overseeing strategic programs to foster global economic growth and opportunity, and Barclays’ Social Innovation Facility, a cross-business and cross-border resource dedicated to the development of self-sustaining commercial solutions to social challenges. Barbara also serves as an Executive Sponsor for Citizenship and Strategic Events, helping to promote strong engagement in all client interactions.
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.
