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.
Boštjan Kaluža is the chief data scientist at Evolven Software (www.evolven.com). He has published numerous articles in professional journals and delivered conference papers. He is author of Instant Weka How-to and Machine Learning in Java. Boštjan is also the author and contributor to numerous patents in the areas of anomaly detection and pattern recognition.
Jeff Smith is a partner in the Cleveland office and a member of Fisher Phillips' Employee Benefits Practice Group. He works with clients to create, implement and maintain their retirement and health plans.
He also advises employers on the impact of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), as well as Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements (MEWAs) and Voluntary Employer Beneficiary Associations (VEBAs).
While in law school, Jeff served as Executive Notes Editor and earlier as Associate Editor of the Health Matrix: Journal of Law-Medicine. He has been selected for inclusion in Ohio Super Lawyers - Rising Stars five times. He has also been listed in Best Lawyers since 2017.
Dax Craig is the co-founder, president, and chief executive officer of Valen Analytics, an advanced data and analytics provider for the property and casualty insurance industry. Valen leverages its large consortium data assets to help carriers price insurance policies more accurately and achieve lower loss ratios.Prior to founding Valen in 2004, Dax was founder and CEO of Xertex Technologies, a leading provider of antennas for Wi-Fi, in-building wireless, and telematics. He led the progress of the company from a concept he developed as an MBA student at the University of Colorado to its eventual acquisition by Centurion Wireless, now part of Laird plc. At the time of Xertex’s acquisition, Centurion was a global leader in the wireless antenna industry with over $150 million in annual revenue, seven factories, locations in five countries and over 1,500 employees.Dax proceeded to be vice president of global business development at Centurion, where he was directly responsible for global business development including sales, market definition, market segmentation, market research, strategic planning and market development.Believing in the importance of community involvement, Dax founded the Monticello Foundation, an organization of young professionals that raised money for Denver area children’s charities. He also founded Stay Tuned Colorado, a non-partisan organization that engaged young professionals to become more involved in the process of selecting national political leaders.He currently serves on the executive advisory board of the University of Tulsa’s College of Business and is a member of the Young Presidents Organization. Most recently, Dax was selected as a board member to the National Sports Center for the Disabled. Previously, he has served on the board of several community organizations including the Denver Opera and the Metro Denver Sports Commission.Dax graduated from the University of Tulsa with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing. He earned his MBA in finance from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
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.
