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.
Erik Breen has led the Integrated Reporting Framework Panel since 2016, after being a Council Member of the International Integrated Reporting Council from 2013-2016, and has the ambition to reconnect the power of institutional capital with the beneficiaries’ non-financial values through a realistic business-driven approach. He has 24 years’ experience in asset management, especially in integrating finance and sustainability. He has been at the forefront of global developments in corporate governance, responsible investment, stewardship and sustainability and impact investing. He has international experience as board member in developing and challenging strategy, in promoting effective risk oversight and in fostering open board cultures. He founded Infinsus, which is dedicated to integrating finance and sustainability.
Mortgage application volume rose last week, but with the 10-year Treasury yield tanking in recent days, growth in refinancings for the current period is quite likely, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Senior Account Executive, Further
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.
