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  • Jan 17 / 2024
What's New

IRS Releases 2024 Publication 15-T and Forms W-4, W-4P, and W-4R

The IRS released the 2024 Publication 15-T, Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods, as well as the 2024 Forms W-4, W-4P, and W-4R. Employees and payees may now use the IRS’s tax withholding estimator when completing their 2024 Form W-4 and Form W-4P.

Publication 15-T

Publication 15-T describes how to figure federal income tax withholding using the percentage method and the wage bracket method and describes alternative methods for figuring withholding. The publication explains how to withhold income tax based on pre-2020 Forms W-4 and 2020 or later Forms W-4.

Form W-4

The IRS released the 2024 Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Certificate, with few changes. Instructions for using the IRS’s tax withholding estimator when figuring withholding for multiple jobs, which were removed in the 2023 version, have been added back to the form. The amounts in the tax tables for use with the Multiple Jobs Worksheet have been updated for 2024.

Withholding on Periodic Payments of Pensions and Annuities

The 2024 Form W-4P, Withholding Certificate for Periodic Pension or Annuity Payments, and the 2024 Form W-4R, Withholding Certificate for Nonperiodic Payments and Eligible Rollover Distributions, have also been released. There are few changes.

Courtesy of PayrollOrg.

  • Jan 17 / 2024
What's New

Business Standard Mileage Rate Increases to 67 Cents in 2024

The IRS announced that the business standard mileage rate for transportation expenses paid or incurred beginning January 1, 2024, will be 67 cents per mile, up 1.5 cents from 65.5 cents per mile for 2023.

Vehicles Put Into Service in 2024

For vehicles put into service in 2024, the cents-per-mile valuation method and the fleet-average valuation rule can be used only if the vehicle does not have a fair market value of more than $62,000 ($60,800 in 2023).

Make Sure to Use the Correct Rate

Because of the 1.5 cent increase in the business standard mileage rate, employers reimbursing employees at the 2023 rate need to be mindful of the rate change. Employers should make sure they change to the 2024 rate for all affected travel on or after January 1, 2024. And remember that business miles driven in December 2023 that show up on an employee’s expense report in 2024 are governed by the rules applicable to the corresponding 2023 mileage rate.

Courtesy of PayrollOrg

  • Nov 18 / 2023
What's New

California Expands Paid Sick Leave in 2024

Effective January 1, 2024, employees in California will be entitled to additional paid sick leave (PSL). The amount of PSL that an employee can take in one year will increase: the use cap will increase to 40 hours or five days in a year from 24 hours or three days in a year [S.B. 616, L. 2023].

Accrual Cap, Front Loading

Also effective January 1, 2024, the amount of PSL that an employee can accrue in one year will increase to 80 hours or 10 days from 48 hours or six days. The amount of accrued, unused PSL that can be carried over to the next year will also increase to 80 hours from 48 hours. The rate of accrual will remain one hour for every 30 hours worked.

If an employer chooses to front load PSL for an employee, the employee must receive no less than 24 hours of PSL by the 120thcalendar day of employment and no less than 40 hours of PSL by the 200th calendar day of employment.

Local PSL Laws, Preemption

Also effective January 1, 2024, local PSL laws will be prohibited (preempted) from regulating certain issues with regard to PSL.

Courtesy of PayrollOrg

  • Nov 18 / 2023
What's New

IRS Announces 2024 COLAs for Transportation Fringes, FSA Deferrals

For 2024, the amounts that may be excluded from gross income for employer-provided qualified transportation fringe benefits and qualified parking increase to $315 per month ($300 in 2023).

For plan years beginning in 2024, the dollar limitation for voluntary employee salary reductions for contributions to health FSAs increases to $3,200 ($3,050 in 2023). For cafeteria plans that permit the carryover of unused amounts, the maximum carryover amount increases to $640 ($610 in 2023).

Courtesy of PayrollOrg

  • Nov 18 / 2023
What's New

IRS Announces 2024 Retirement Plan Contribution, Benefit Limit

The IRS announced the changes to the dollar limits on benefits and contributions under qualified retirement plans, as well as other items, for tax year 2024 [Notice 2023-75, 11-1-23].

IRC §415, which provides for dollar limits on benefits and contributions under qualified retirement plans, requires that the IRS annually adjust these limits for cost-of-living changes. The IRC also requires various other amounts to be adjusted at the same time and in the same manner as these dollar limits.

The limitation on the exclusion for elective deferrals under §402(g)(1) (e.g., §401(k) and §403(b) plans) increases to $23,000 (from $22,500).

Courtesy of PayrollOrg

  • Oct 23 / 2023
What's New

OCSS Releases Revised IWO and Instructions

The Office of Child Support Services (OCSS) released a revised version of the income withholding order for support form (IWO) and its instructions with no substantial changes [OCSS, AT-23-13, 10-5-23]. The revised IWO expires August 31, 2026.

The revised IWO contains only minor changes and was updated to reflect the agency’s name change from Office of Child Support Enforcement to OCSS, which was announced in June. OCSS also issued a sample form to provide guidance on properly completing the IWO.

To give child support agencies time to implement the revised form, OCSS extended the expiration date of the previous IWO until September 30, 2024 (OCSS, AT-23-12, 9-27-23).

Courtesy of the PayrollOrg

  • Oct 23 / 2023
What's New

IRS Issues Federal ‘High-Low’ Per Diem Rates Effective October 1

The IRS has released the optional “high-low” per diem rates for lodging expenses and meals and incidental expenses (M&IE) that may be used instead of the General Services Administration’s “actual” per diem rates for travel to locations within the continental U.S. (CONUS), the special federal M&IE per diem rates applicable to the transportation industry, and the per diem rate for incidental expenses. The updated high-low rates apply for travel undertaken on or after October 1, 2023 [Notice 2023-68, 9-25-23].
High-Low Rates
The “high” rate for lodging expenses and M&IE increases to $309 (from $297) for travel to any high-cost locality, while the “low” rate increases to $214 (from $204) for travel to any other locality within CONUS. The rates for M&IE remain at $74 for high-cost localities and $64 for any other locality within CONUS.
Changes to High-Cost Localities
Notice 2023-68 contains an updated list of high-cost localities, which now includes Yosemite National Park, Calif.; Tampa/St. Petersburg, Fla.; Atlanta, Ga.; Missoula, Mont.; Saratoga Springs/Schenectady, N.Y.; Eugene/Florence, Ore.; and Montpelier, Vt.
The portions of the year for which some localities are considered high-cost has also been adjusted, and four localities have been removed from the list.
Other Items
Transportation industry rates. The federal M&IE rates for the transportation industry remain at $69 for any locality of travel within CONUS and $74 for any locality of travel outside the continental U.S.
Incidental expenses. Instead of using actual expenses in computing the amount allowable as a deduction for ordinary and necessary incidental expenses paid or incurred for travel away from home, an employee or self-employed individual may use an amount computed at the rate of $5 (unchanged) per day for each calendar day (or partial day) he or she is away from home.

Courtesy of PyrollOrg

  • Oct 23 / 2023
What's New

Wage Base Increases to $168,600 for 2024

The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced on Thursday, October 12, that the 2024 social security wage base will be $168,600, which is an increase of $8,400 from $160,200 in 2023 [SSA, Press Release, 10-12-23]. The SSA Fact Sheet is available at https://www.payroll.org/docs/default-source/irs-and-ssa-announcements/23k12-2024-Social-Security-Fact-Sheet.pdf.
Maximum social security tax. The maximum social security tax employees and employers will each pay in is $10,453.20, an increase of $520.80 from $9,932.40 in 2023.

Courtesy of PayrollOrg

  • Aug 20 / 2023
What's New

USCIS Releases Revised Form I-9 to Be Used by November 1

On August 1, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published the revised Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, with an edition date of 8-1-23. USCIS encourages employers to begin using the new version as soon as possible, but the previous Form I-9 (edition date of 10-21-19) may be used through October 31. Starting November 1, all employers must use the 8-1-23 edition of Form I-9.

Employers do not need to complete a new Form I-9 for current employees who already have a properly completed Form I-9 on file unless reverification applies to them after October 31, 2023.

Revisions to Form I-9

The following are some of the revisions to the Form I-9:

  • Sections 1 and 2 are now a single-sided sheet.
  • The Section 1 Preparer/Translator Certification area is now standalone Supplement A that employers can provide to employees when necessary.
  • Section 3, Reverification and Rehire, is now standalone Supplement B that employers can print for rehires or reverification.
  • The form has been redesigned to be fillable on tablets and mobile devices.
  • The notice at the top of Form I-9 was updated to explain how to avoid discrimination in the Form I-9 process.
  • The Lists of Acceptable Documents page has been redesigned.
  • The instructions have been reduced from 15 to eight pages.
  • The abbreviations charts were moved to the M-274, Handbook for Employers: Guidance for Completing Form I-9.
  • A new checkbox was added to allow certain employers to indicate they examined Form I-9 documentation remotely under a new alternative procedure rather than via physical examination.
  • Aug 15 / 2023
What's New

California Facing Potential 2023 Credit Reduction

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently updated the outstanding loan balances within state/territory Federal Unemployment Accounts (FUAs). As of August 10, 2023, California, New York, and the U.S. Virgin Islands carry balances in their FUA loans. California’s outstanding balance was $17.9 billion US dollars, while New York’s balance was $6.5B USD (source USDOL).

If these states still have unpaid loans on November 10, 2023, employers within these states have additional FUTA credit reductions in 2023. States that have an outstanding FUA loan on January 1 of at least two consecutive years and on November 10 of the second year, the states are subject to a credit reduction on their Federal Unemployment Tax rate until the loan has been paid off. If a loan continues to be unpaid on subsequent years, the credit reduction increases by 0.3%. States that make an effort to keep their balances in check have some opportunities to avoid the reduction fee. If California continues to have an outstanding balance, the reduction increases to 0.6%, and the supplementary FUTA tax would be due by January 31, 2024.

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