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.
Nick Bapis is a partner and managing director at The Bapis Group at HighTower Advisors in New York and Salt Lake City.
Peter Marcia is CEO of YouDecide, an employee voluntary benefits and discount program. Prior to his involvement with YouDecide he was Vice President and National Director of Employee Benefits for Hilb, Rogal and Hobbs, the world’s 10th ranking broker, where he led the company’s strategic business unit. Previously, he led the employee benefits practices of Hobbs Group, LLC, in Atlanta and O'Neill, Finnegan & Jordan of Boston. Active in numerous professional organizations, Marcia is a past member of the National Business Group on Health, New England Employee Benefits Council, the CIAB Board of Directors of the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers, Wellness Councils of America and the Society of Human Resource Management.
Sabrina Parsons is CEO of Palo Alto Software, developer of the business management and planning software LivePlan. Palo Alto Software develops software and tools specifically targeted for entrepreneurs and small-business owners, as well as CPAs, accountants, and bookkeepers. Sabrina assumed the CEO role in May 2007 and is responsible for Palo Alto's business planning, fiscal and strategic goals and all of the company's traditional marketing. She is a graduate of Princeton University.
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.
