Tag: Payroll Records

Posted on May 25, 2016

Retaining Payroll Records

As if payroll record retention and recordkeeping wasn’t already difficult enough, another layer of complexity has been added by the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Now that the ACA rules are firmly in place, here’s a brief rundown of several areas of concern for record retention. This list is based on information provided by the IRS, the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the Department of Labor (DOL).

ACA Requirements

The IRS administers health insurance coverage requirements under the ACA. The law currently requires employers with 50 or more full-time employees or full-time equivalents to provide at least minimum essential coverage. For the IRS, employers must file these informational forms:

  • 1094-B, Transmittal of Health Coverage Information Returns,
  • 1099-B, Health Coverage,
  • 1094-C, Transmittal of Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage Information Returns, and
  • 1095-C, Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage.

Employers should retain copies for at least three years or be able to reconstruct the data for that time period.

Federal Income Tax and FICA Requirements

Wages are subject to both federal withholding and Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) taxes. The Social Security tax portion of FICA is equal to 6.2% of the first $118,500 of wages in 2016. The Medicare tax portion is equal to 1.45% on all wages.

Generally, employers must retain income tax and FICA tax records for at least four years from the date of the employee’s tax return due date. They must also keep information regarding wage continuation payments that the employer or a third party makes under an accident or health plan. This information should include the start and end dates of the time off from work and the amount and weekly rate of each payment.

Copies of documents filed on paper or electronically must be kept for at least four years after the tax return due date or, if later, the date the tax is paid. This includes the entire Forms 941 series and any W-2 forms sent but returned as undeliverable. It is permissible to destroy original W-2 forms if they can be electronically reproduced.

Employers filing claims for refunds, credits or abatements on income and FICA taxes, must hold on to related documents for at least four years. Companies with health insurance, cafeteria, educational assistance, adoption assistance or a dependent care assistance plan providing tax-free benefits must keep records establishing that the plans meet statutory requirements.

Finally, employers in businesses that require tip reporting must keep records substantiating any information returns or employer statements on tip allocations for at least three years after the return or statement is due.

FUTA Requirements

Under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA), employers must withhold amounts for unemployment payments. The FUTA rate is 6% on the first $7,000 of wages, but can be reduced by as much as 5.4% for credits on contributions to state unemployment programs.

Employers must retain records for four years from the later of either the date they file Form 940, Employer’s Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return or the date they pay the tax. The records should include:

  • Compensation paid to employees during the year,
  • Compensation subject to FUTA tax,
  • State unemployment payments (separating out any employee contributions),
  • All information on Form 940, and
  • Any difference between total compensation and the taxable amount.

Note: Currently, only Alaska, New Jersey and Pennsylvania require employee contributions.

FLSA Requirements

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) governs minimum wage and overtime pay rules. Employees must be paid at least the minimum wage and one and one-half times their regular rates of pay for overtime unless they are exempt.

Every covered employer must keep certain records for each non-exempt worker. Generally, these records should include the employee’s full name, Social Security number, address, birth date if younger than 19, sex and occupation, as well as:

  • Time and day workweek begins,
  • Hours worked each day,
  • Hours worked each week,
  • Basis on which wages are paid,
  • Regular hourly pay rate,
  • Total daily or weekly straight-time earnings,
  • Total overtime earnings for the week,
  • Additions to or deductions from wages,
  • Total wages paid each pay period, and
  • Date of payment and pay period covered

Records on which wage computations are based, such as time cards and piecework tickets, wage rate tables, work and time schedules and records of additions to or deductions from wages need to be kept for only two years. The remaining records should be held for at least three years.

Your CJ Payroll adviser can help ensure that you follow all the rules for retaining payroll records.

The Annual Payroll Tax Forum

The American Payroll Association (APA) is touting its mid-year Payroll Tax Forum.

This is a one-day course the not-for-profit group is offering in 18 cities from June 13 to June 24. The forum will focus on the latest payroll-related changes from Congress and various federal agencies.

Scheduled topics include:

  • Health insurance data reporting required by the Affordable Care Act (ACA),
  • Taxation and reporting of executive employee compensation,
  • Preparation for a proposed increase to the white collar exemption minimum salary requirement, and
  • Planning for the accelerated W-2 and 1099 filing dates.

The program will also include reviews of recent legislative and regulatory changes, the annually adjusted wage bases and benefit limits, as well as a discussion of revisions to IRS forms and publications. The forum is open to anyone involved in an organization’s payroll. More information is available at the APA website.

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Posted on Apr 18, 2015
Recordkeeping
Just in time for spring cleaning, the Social Security Administration and the IRS have issued a joint publication — the Spring 2015 issue of SSA/IRS Reporter — which offers valuable pointers for employers who want to clean up their old payroll files. In most (but not all) cases, that means following a four-year retention rule. The Reporter cautions that failure to meet record retention requirements can result in sizable penalties and large settlement awards for employers that are unable to provide the required information when requested by the IRS or as part of an employment-related lawsuit. (Records could also be requested by state agencies.)

 

The Records-in-General Rule

As applied to employers that withhold and pay federal income, Social Security and Medicare taxes, the SSA/IRS Reporter says records relating to such taxes must be kept for at least four years after the due date of the employee’s personal income tax return (generally, April 15) for the year in which the payment was made.1

According to the SSA/IRS Reporter, these records include:

  • The Employer Identification Number;
  • Employees’ names, addresses, occupations and Social Security numbers;
  • The total amounts and dates of payments of compensation and amounts withheld for taxes or otherwise, including reported tips and the fair market value of non-cash payments;
  • The compensation amounts subject to withholding for federal income, Social Security, and Medicare taxes, and the corresponding amounts withheld for each tax (and the date withheld if withholding occurred on a different day than the payment date);
  • The pay period covered by each payment of compensation;
  • Where applicable, the reason(s) why total compensation and taxable amount for each tax rate are different;
  • The employee’s Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate;
  • Each employee’s beginning and ending dates of employment;
  • Statements provided by the employee reporting tips received;
  • Fringe benefits provided to employees and any required substantiation;
  • Adjustments or settlements of taxes; and
  • Amounts and dates of tax deposits.

Employers should also follow the four-year retention rule for records relating to wage continuation payments made to employees by the employer or third party under an accident or health plan. Such records should include the beginning and ending dates of the period of absence, and the amount and weekly rate of each payment (including payments made by third parties). Employers also should keep copies of the employee’s Form W-4S, Request for Federal Income Tax Withholding From Sick Pay, and, where applicable, copies of Form 8922, Third-Party Sick Pay Recap.

A different rule applies for records substantiating any information returns and employer statements to employees regarding tip allocations. Under the tax code, these records must be kept for at least three years after the due date of the return or statement to which they relate.2

Claims for Refund of Withheld Tax

The SSA/IRS Reporter says employers that file a claim for refund, credit or abatement of withheld income and employment taxes must retain records related to the claim for at least four years after the filing date of the claim.

Fringe Benefit Records

The tax code provides an explicit recordkeeping requirement for employers with enumerated fringe benefit plans, such as health insurance, cafeteria, educational assistance, adoption assistance or dependent care assistance plan. They are required to keep whatever records are needed to determine whether the plan meets the requirements for excluding the benefit amounts from income.3

Note: Tax code provisions regarding fringe benefit records do not specify how long records pertaining to specified fringe benefits should be kept. Presumably, they are subject to the four-year rule under the records-in-general rule cited above, and thus should be kept at least four years after the due date of such tax for the return period to which the records relate or the date such tax is paid, whichever is later.

Caution: To the extent that any fringe benefit records must also comply with ERISA Title I, then a longer retention period of six years applies.4

Unemployment Tax Records 

The Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) requires employers to retain records relating to compensation earned and unemployment contributions made. Under the records-in-general rule, such records must be retained for four years after the due date of the Form 940,Employer’s Annual Federal Unemployment Tax Return or the date the required FUTA tax was paid, whichever is later.

Records should be retained substantiating:

  • The total amount of employee compensation paid during the calendar year;
  • The amount of compensation subject to FUTA tax;
  • State unemployment contributions made, with separate totals for amounts paid by the employer and amounts withheld from employees’ wages (currently, Alaska, New Jersey and Pennsylvania require employee contributions);
  • All information shown on Form 940 (with Schedule A and/or R as applicable); and
  • If applicable, the reason why total compensation and the taxable amounts are different.

The SSA/IRS Reporter reminds employers that record retention requirements are also set by the federal Department of Labor and state wage-hour and unemployment insurance agencies.

If you have additional questions, contact us at 972.202.8000.

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