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DOL Creates Office of Compliance Initiatives, New Websites
To help its enforcement activities, the U.S. Department of Labor has created the Office of Compliance Initiatives and launched two new websites (for employers and workers) with resources to assess compliance with federal labor law and regulations.
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Federal
New Draft of 2019 Form W-4 Has Few Changes From 2018
The IRS released a second draft of the 2019 Form W-4 on October 12. The latest draft Form W-4 is very similar to the 2018 Form W-4 with a few non-substantive language changes in the general instructions.
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Federal
Social Security Wage Base Increases to $132,900 for 2019
On October 11, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced that the 2019 social security wage base will be $132,900, an increase of $4,500 from $128,400 in 2018 [SSA, Press Release, 10-11-18].
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Federal
FBI Warns About Phishing Emails for Employees’ Payroll Information
The FBI issued a public service announcement (PSA) encouraging employers to remind employees not to respond to phishing emails from cybercriminals who want access to employees’ payroll information [FBI, Alert No. I-091818-PSA, 9-18-18].
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Federal
IRS Allows Exclusion of 2017 Moving Expenses Paid in 2018
The IRS has announced that employer payments or reimbursements in 2018 for employees’ qualified moving expenses incurred before January 1, 2018, are excluded from the employees’ wages for income and employment tax purposes [IRS Notice 2018-75, 9-21-18].
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Federal
IRS Delays Major Revisions to Form W-4 Until 2020 Version
On September 20, the IRS announced it will delay major revisions to Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate, until the 2020 version. The 2019 form will be similar to the 2018 version. The IRS hopes to release a new draft version of the 2019 Form W-4 soon [IRS Statement on Form W-4, 9-20-18].
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Federal
IRS Releases Revised Publication 1494 That Corrects Exemption Amounts
On September 6, the IRS released a revised Publication 1494, Tables for Figuring Amount Exempt From Levy on Wages, Salary, and Other Income, that corrected several exemption amounts.
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Federal
Federal Reserve Clarifies Liability for Checks Deposited Remotely
The latest amendment to Regulation CC clarifies that the bank accepting a check deposit through Remote Deposit Capture must make restitution to another bank that subsequently accepts a paper version of the check.
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Federal
DOL PAID Program Still in Pilot Stage
APA Government Relations staff met with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) in June to discuss the Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) pilot program, which allows employers to perform an audit of Fair Labor Standards Act practices and self-report minimum wage and overtime violations. The pilot program is running from April through early October.
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Federal
DOL to Hold Public Sessions on Overtime Rule
From September 7-24, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division will hold public listening sessions to hear ideas on the “white collar” exemption regulations, which it plans to revise.
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Federal
Employers Must Use Current Standard Child Support Withholding Order
As of August 31, 2018, employers should be using only the revised version of the standard child support withholding order, Income Withholding for Support (IWO), with an expiration date of August 31, 2020. The form is required to be used in all child support cases.
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Federal
IRS Encourages Taxpayers to Renew ITINs Now
The IRS encourages taxpayers with Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) that will expire at the end of 2018 to submit their renewal applications soon to beat the rush and avoid refund delays next year.
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Federal
IRS Conducts Weeklong ‘Paycheck Checkup’ Campaign
During a weeklong summertime campaign (August 13-17, 2018), the IRS encourages employers to remind employees to complete a Paycheck Checkup to ensure the right amount of tax is being withheld from their paychecks.
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Federal
IRS Offers Resources to Understand Tax Reform
The IRS released a tax tip reminding employers about online resources available to help them understand the tax law changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (Pub. L. 115-97) [IRS Tax Reform Tax Tip 2018-119, 8-2-18].
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Federal
GAO Report Projects 21% of Taxpayers Are Being Underwithheld for 2018
On July 31, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report projecting that 21%, or nearly 30 million, taxpayers are having too little tax withheld for 2018. These taxpayers may have a balance due when they file their tax returns and could be subject to a penalty for underpayment of tax [GAO-18-548, Federal Tax Withholding: Treasury and IRS Should Document the Roles and Responsibilities for Updating Annual Withholding Tables, 7-31-18].
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Federal
SSA to Resume Educational Correspondence Notices
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has announced that it will resume sending its Educational Correspondence (EDCOR) notices (also called Employer Correction Request Notices) to employers that file Forms W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, containing name and social security number (SSN) mismatches.
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Federal
IRS Creates ‘Paycheck Checkup’ Flyer
The IRS’s new one-page flyer is designed for employers to give to employees to remind them to complete a Paycheck Checkup [IRS, Publication 5303, Paycheck Checkup, rev. 6-18, posted 7-12-18].
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Federal
SSA Outlines BSO Upgrades for the 2019 Filing Season and Beyond
On July 5, during the IRS’s payroll industry call, Scott Pederson, a Program Analyst in the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Office of Electronic Services and Technology, provided an overview of some of the changes that SSA has made to its Business Services Online (BSO) suite of services for the 2019 filing season. He also outlined some of some of the changes that SSA would like to make for future years.
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Federal
ETAAC Again Recommends Increasing Electronic Filing of 94x Series
In its Annual Report to Congress, the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee (ETAAC) recommended increasing electronic filing of the Form 94x series and cited the American Payroll Association as a source of information on the project [IRS Publication 3415, Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee Annual Report to Congress, rev. 6-18].
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Federal
IRS Offers Year-Round Tax Tips for Taxpayers
The IRS reminds taxpayers that it offers year-round tax help from several sources. This is good information for payroll professionals to pass on to employees who have tax questions. Employees may have more questions this year due to the tax reform law [IRS Tax Tip 2018-91, 6-13-18].
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