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.
Lee joined the EBN team in 2022, and covers areas including caregiving, employee health and wellness, healthcare innovation, and company culture. She created EBN's popular Benefits in Action and Manager Diaries series, interviewing top leaders from Walmart, AT&T, Aflac, DoorDash, and EY. Her reporting on EBN's podcast, Perk Up!, earned the team a regional silver award from the AZBEE Award of Excellence in 2025. She has also interviewed several winners of EBN's Excellence in Benefits Awards, including top CEOs and CHROs from Hyatt and Hendry Marine Industries.
Her favorite parts of the job are connecting with people who are passionate about providing great benefits and a positive work environment, and writing about strategies and tools that help them do this. Previously, she taught high school and middle school, and worked as a freelance writer in healthcare and advertising. She has a BA in English from George Mason University.
Grace Ata, AVP of product development at Equisoft has 17+ years of experience in fintech and insurtech, Grace has led the development of several game-changing digital transformation initiatives within the automotive lending sector and Insurance and Wealth Management industries in North America. As AVP, Product Development, Grace brings a deep knowledge of the insurance distribution space and extensive network of industry subject matter experts to lead the strategy and development team working on our core Digital Insurance Agency Platform, Equisoft/centralize.
- Deep knowledge of insurance distribution and its challenges
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An active member of CLIEDIS, CAILBA, NAILBA, and FundServ, Grace's exceptional talent rests on her ability to analyze & leverage industry trends to build exceptional high-value products. Passionate about operational excellence, she has successfully helped clients optimize their use of technology to accelerate efficiency, growth and digital transformation. A Bachelor of Science graduate of the University of Waterloo, Grace applies a thorough approach to product development.
This report details municipal stakeholders' views of the current and future environment, outlining the challenges and opportunities to get major infrastructure projects completed in the United States.
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.

