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.
Matt Dines is co-founder and Chief Investment Officer of Build Asset Management, an asset management firm specializing in strategies focused on fixed income and options. He can be reached at matt@getbuilding.com
Derek is the head of advisor experience at Aptus Capital Advisors, an SEC-registered investment advisor specializing in risk-mitigated investing. He organizes the firm’s efforts to help advisors build a confident client base, designing customizable portfolios with client-friendly messaging to match.
Kelli Haugh is managing director at Foreside, a provider of governance, risk management, and compliance service and technology offerings to clients in the global asset and wealth management industry. She oversees Foreside’s investment advisor compliance services team and provides strategic and regulatory guidance to investment advisors under the investment advisers Act of 1940 and state securities laws. Prior to joining Foreside, she was a Partner with Dew, Foxman & Haugh PLLC, concentrating on corporate and securities law.
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.
