Over the past few years, overtime compliancy has become a hot topic and government audits are on the rise. Determining who is to receive overtime, what is included in overtime and how the rates must be calculated is no longer straightforward. Now it requires a playbook to help your company avoid penalties that result from audits.

Do you know all the rules of the game?

Join Optimum Solutions on June 15 at 2:00PM CST for an important webinar that will cover:

• How to determine an employee and which employees are exempt or not.
• What is included in overtime
• Methods of overtime calculation
• What triggers an audit and what they are looking for
• How to prevent an audit, avoiding back wage pay
• Real scenarios of companies that have been audited

Optimum Solutions Customers: June 14,  2:00 CST
*Cost is $95.00 per company with unlimited attendees
Register here

All Other Attendees: June 15, 2:00 PM CST
*Cost is $125.00 per company with unlimited attendees
Register here

Once registered, an invoice will be sent. When payment has been received, you will receive an email confirming your registration with information you need to join the Webinar.

**If multiple attendees from your company need to access the webinar from individual computers, each employee will have to register in order to get an access code, but only one invoice per company will be issued.

The main concern is states are inconsistent with the current requirements for traveling employees filing personal income tax returns and for employers withholding income tax on those traveling employees.

Staying true to the current law, the bill still maintains that the employee’s earning are subject to full tax in his/her residing state. The bill creates a 30 day period that traveling employee’s earning will be exempt from tax and withholding from the state in which they are traveling.

Employees who conduct business in a their nonresident state for more than 30 days during the calendar year will remain subject to the appropriates state’s taxes and the employer will be responsible for withholding the appropriate taxes.

The next step for the bill to become a law is for it to pass in the House and then the Senate.

For updates as the Mobile Workforce State Income Tax Simplification Act goes through legislation, check back with the Optimum blog frequently.

More Convenient Deposits

Using direct deposit, employees always know the exact day their paycheck will show up in their account. There will never be a question as to whether a check will arrive on time or when the bank will process the transaction. In fact, direct deposit eliminates the need to stop at the bank to deposit paychecks altogether.  This means if no special arrangements to get your check if you are sick or on vacation.

More Monetary Control

Direct deposit eliminates all worry that a check may be lost, stolen or misplaced, as it goes directly into employees’ bank accounts - its called direct deposit for a reason! Not a single person touch any checks before they are deposited. Additionally, employees also have the option of how much money will go into which bank accounts for each pay period.

More Security and Reliability

Imagine if there is a natural disaster in your city or even the city where your checks are processed. How are you going to get paid? You many not be able to get your paycheck for days, or even weeks. Direct deposit eliminates all of these circumstances by automatically transferring your money into your account, whether or not the mail service is running.

Paycards: Another Payment Option

An additional, and still reliable, option to direct deposit are Paycards. These are particularly beneficial for the unbanked population. If a disaster does occur, you will have still have access to your money through an ATM.

Optimum Solutions provides an unlimited amount of direct deposit accounts, click here to learn more about our payroll processing.

The bill proposes to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to increase the federal minimum wage to $8.10 an hour, currently $7.25, for the first year and followed by a subsequent second increase to $9.80 the second year. The third year the minimum wage would be adjusted to inflation.

The bill would also include an increase to the minimum wage for tip workers to $3.00 an hour, currently $2.13, the first year followed by an increase of $0.85 each additional year until the wage is 70% of the federal minimum wage.

Additionally the bill addresses paid sick days and misclassification of of workers penalties.

Check back frequently to the Optimum blog for more updates.

The noted changes on the form are as follows:

• The check box under box 3 now refers to line 6 instead of line 6a


• The text box to the right of boxes 5a, 5b & 5 c has been removed


• Lines 6a & 6d which were previously shaded and indicated they are reserved for future use have been removed from the form


• Line 6e has been renumber to line 6 (Total taxes before adjustments)


• Line 10 has been revised to renumber 6e to 6 (Total taxes after adjustments)


• Line 11 previously read “Total deposits, including prior quarter overpayments” and now reads ”Total deposits for this quarter, including overpayment applied from a prior quarter and overpayment applied from Form-X or Form 944-X”.


• Line 16 check box for indicated the state or states where the tax deposits where made has been eliminated since all employers are not required to report electronically.
  
  

With the removal of the check box in item above, the remaining information has been renumbered from Lines 17 – 19 to 16 – 18.

The revised Form 941 is required to be completed and submitted by April 30, 2012 for reporting the 1st quarter taxes.

Click here for more information on the old 2011 Form 941.

Join Optimum Solutions on March 26 for a webinar in which you will learn basic steps on how to balance taxes and taxable wages for each individual pay period, month and quarter to make calculating year end painless . We will provide a list of tasks to accomplish throughout the year to help prepare you for the dreaded year end.

The cost is $95.00 per company with unlimited attendees**

Register now: Monday March 26, 2012   2:00-4:00PM CDT.

An invoice will be send after registration is completed.  Once the payment has been processed, you will receive an email confirming your registration with the appropriate instructions on how to join the Year End Balancing Webinar.

**If multiple attendees from your company need to access the webinar from individual computers, each employee will have to register in order to get an access code, but only one invoice per company will be issued.

The extension keeps the payroll tax rate at 4.2%, normally 6.2%, through the end of the year. The law is estimated to save the average American family around $40.00 per two-week paycheck, or approximately $1,000 annually. The payroll tax cut is said to affect 160 million Americans.

Long-term unemployment benefits were also extended through 2012. Stipulations were added to gradually decrease the maximum numbers of weeks for recipients. A provision was also added to the bill to authorize states to drug test unemployment beneficiaries was added. The drug tests are only required for people who were fired for unlawful use of controlled substances.

Read more information on five important takeaways from the original payroll roll tax extension.

Automatic IRA Act

The S 3760 would require companies, who previously did not offer retirement accounts to employees, to automatically enroll employees in individual retirement accounts. The bill was introduced to Congress and several states, but was turned down. The APA is urging for it to be reconsidered in 2012.

American Jobs Act

Although the initial package did not get past Congress, it is likely we will see bits and pieces of the American Jobs Act introduced separately or squeezed in with other legislation throughout 2012.

The APA is interested in the effect the individual proposals will have on payroll professionals. They are specifically tracking the Social Security Preservation Through Individual Choice Enhancement Act. The act would allow employees the option of participating in any temporary tax holiday passed by Congress.

Mobile Workforce Bill

HR 1864 concerns employees who travel interstate on short term work assignments. The bill would limit states’s ability to tax certain incomes, which would limit states’ ability to tax certain incomes, which would in turn reduce administrative tasks for payroll departments.  The bill was passed by the House Judiciary Committee but has not been voted on by the full House.

State Paycard Bills

Not all states have addressed the use of paycards as wage payment in their related laws and regulations. The APA is lobbying for state paycard legislation to be passed.

There will be bills reintroduced in Connecticut, New Mexico and California in 2012.

State Garnishment Bills

Georgia legislature is considering SB 11. The bill affects the amount of time employees have to respond to a garnishment order. It is expected to be reintroduced in 2012.

Check back with our HRIS News Blog page often for future local, federal and state updates.

2012 Standard Deduction Increase

The standard deduction for married couples filing jointly or surviving spouses increased from $11,600 in 2011 to $11,900 in 2012. Single taxpayers and married taxpayers filing separately increased from $5,800 in 2011 to $5,950 in 2012. Heads of the households also face an increase from $8,500 in 2011 to $8,700 in 2012.

As a reminder, the Tax Relief of 2010 states that the standard deduction for married taxpayers filing jointly is at 200% of the standard deduction for single taxpayers through 2012.

2012 Personal Exemption Increase

The personal exemption amount has increased $100 from $3,700 in 2011 to $3,800 in 2012.

Note: Under the TRA, the phaseout of the personal exemption for higher income taxpayers does not apply to taxable years in 2011 and 2012.

2012 Foreign Earned Income Exclusion Increase

In 2012, the maximum amount of the foreign housing cost exclusion increased from $13,006 in 2011 to $13,314 in 2012 and the maximum foreign earned income exclusion increase from $92,000 in 2011 to $95,000 in 2012.

Check back with our HRIS News page for future local, federal and state updates.

The extension is not permanent

Workers will get two more months of a rate reduction in their Social Security taxes. However, this extension is temporary. As of now, the reduced tax rate of 4.2% only applies until February 29 when the tax rate is set to return to 6.2%. Although there is a likelihood of Congress extending it through 2012, nothing is certain until President Obama signs the bill.

The extended tax cut covers the self employed

The extension also applies the Social Security tax rate reduction to the self-employment taxes. This deduction has not changed, which allows self employed individuals to deduct their employer portion of the tax as an adjustment to their gross income.

The rate reduction is automatic for employees

As an employee, you do not have to do anything different to benefit from the tax decrease. If you are eligible, employers will apply the rate reduction when figuring out your withholding for Social Security Tax. Employers must make this adjustment no later than January 31, 2012.

Your Social Security benefits will not suffer

Although you are paying less to the Social Security system, you are not suffering from by collecting less benefits. The government is paying the difference.

The tax cut only applies up to certain incomes

If you earn more than $110,000 a year, the wage base limit,  you will be subject to a new recapture rule upon filing your 2012 tax return. The reduction applies to your earnings up to $110,000 but you will be taxed the original 6.2% for all excess earnings. Again, this is only effective until February 29, 2012.

If Congress extends the same payroll tax cut in February through 2012, these same rules will apply. Check our blog often for more tax cut updates.