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.
Jay Sarzen is a senior analyst with Aite Group’s P&C Insurance practice. He brings to Aite Group over 15 years of experience delivering strategic advice to a wide variety of clients, primarily in financial services. Since coming to Aite Group, Mr. Sarzen has focused his efforts on understanding innovation along the P&C insurance value chain by examining topics such as how new entrants are disrupting traditional distribution channels and how technology is altering underwriting and claims operations.
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Sarzen identified strategic growth opportunities for major insurance carriers, such as The Hartford and MassMutual, and for major financial services providers, such as State Street, through traditional strategic frameworks such as market analysis, competitive analysis, and value chain analysis. Prior to these roles, he honed his strategy skill set as a management consultant in BearingPoint’s Strategy, Process, & Transformation practice and served clients in industries that include software, chemicals, retail, consumer packaged goods, and financial services.
Lewis is founder and CEO of Predictive Health Partners.
Gil Don is CEO of Splitit.
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.
