2015 Year End Payroll Processing

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2015 Year End Payroll Processing The end of another calendar year is upon us, we would like to take this opportunity to THANK YOU for your continued business.

1 2015 Year End Payroll Processing The end of another calendar year is upon us, we would like to take this opportunity to THANK YOU for your continued business. The fourth quarter of the year is a busy time for all of us. Preparing for year end and prioritizing your tasks will help with a smooth transition into This packet provides you with some basic year end information which we hope you will find helpful. Please review this information with your HR Department/Accountant to help us ensure the accuracy of the documents we will prepare with regards to your payroll and W2s. The items included in this packet are listed below: Deadlines for submitting adjustments for 2015 Year End Checklist Common Year End Adjustments Information on submitting Bonus payrolls Verification of Employee Information for W-2s Year End Returns and W-2 Forms Year End Adjustment Request Forms Direct Mail of W2s or Year End CD Limits for 2016 for OASDI, Pension contributions and the Additional Medicare tax for 2016 Preparing for the 1 st Payroll of the ~2016 Holiday Schedule Deadlines for Submitting Adjustments It may be necessary for your company to include additional wage/benefit/compensation information for It is very important for you to provide this information in a timely manner to AVOID tax penalties and/or additional costs for adjusting or amending tax returns. Be sure to process these adjustments with a regular payroll. If the adjustments are submitted after all payrolls have been processed for the year, the employer may be required to pay the employee s portion of Social Security and Medicare Taxes. Page 1 of 10

2 12/24/2015 Contact your Payroll Specialist to put your W2s on hold if you know you will have adjustments to process after 12/31/2015. Contact your Accountant and third party providers to request all employees information to be sent to you as soon as possible. 12/31/2015 To avoid tax penalties, this is the last day to submit adjustments or additional wage/benefit compensation information for Adjustments submitted after 3:00pm on this date will incur the normal payroll processing fees and handling fees due to the possibility of preparing amended returns and W2s. Third Party sick pay adjustments are due by this date to avoid late tax liabilities. 01/04/2016 Adjustments submitted after this date will cause the tax payments to be late. You will be responsible for all tax penalties and interest. 01/15/2016 According to Federal Regulations, Third Party Sick Pay Providers have until 01/15/2016 to supply you with your employees sick pay information. If you know you will have 3 rd party sick pay payments to enter for 2015, please let your Payroll Specialist know to put your Quarterlies and W2 s on Hold. You will be responsible for all penalties and interest that the IRS may access on your late tax payments. Adjustments submitted after this date will require a reopen fee, amended returns at a fee of $100 per return, normal payroll processing fees and W2 reprocessing fees. Page 2 of 10

3 Year End Check List There are many things to confirm, verify, check and audit on your payroll BEFORE running your last scheduled payroll of the calendar year. Here is a list of some of the key areas affecting your payroll at year end and should be considered carefully. Pre schedule any Bonus payroll runs and adjustments as soon as possible. Check with your HR Department/Accountant to determine if any taxable fringe benefits need to be submitted with a payroll or if any payments for (moving expenses, health club dues, tuition reimbursement etc.) were issued through Accounts Payable. Check any terminated employees that are to receive taxable fringe benefits or adjustments. If they have not been previously entered through an earlier payroll, you will need to gross up the dollar amount to cover the OASDI and Medicare portion. The Federal and State portion can be blocked. Your Payroll Specialist can assist you with this. Contact your Third Party Sick Pay provider to determine when the benefit amounts will be available to be processed either through a scheduled payroll before 12/31/2015 or as a separate payroll adjustment. Remember, if these benefits are processed after the above date, you will incur additional payroll processing fees, possible amendment and reopen fees and W2 reprocessing fees. You will also be responsible for all tax penalties and interest for any late tax payments made after 01/06/2016. Verify that all manual checks have been processed through payroll or any voids that need to be done. This will ensure the W2 issued is accurate. Review the W2/1099 Audit report on your employees for accurate W2 information. The SSA requires that all company and employee information that appears on the W2 forms be complete and accurate. W2 Retirement Plan Box: The SSA requires that an X appear in the Retirement Plan box of the W2 form for all employees who were active participants in a Qualified Pension Plan. Employees that had monies deducted through payroll for any deferred compensation plan (401K, 403B, 457, Simple IRAs, etc.) or had pension match monies calculated through payroll will have the Retirement Plan box AUTOMATICALLY checked. IF you have a Company Sponsored Pension Plan other than noted above, YOU must notify your Payroll Specialist with a list of qualified employees so she can check the Retirement Plan box on the W2 form. Remote Clients should mark the Pension Box directly through the Payroll Software. This MUST be done by 12/31/2015. Contact your Payroll Specialist to assist you on where to mark the Pension Box on the employee s record Page 3 of 10

4 Common Year End Adjustments You may need to report additional wage information to be included in your employee s income and reported on their W-2. The items listed below are some of the most common items that may need to be reported. These items NEED to be included with a regular processed payroll so the employee taxes can be deducted from their pay check. Remember: If you do not process any fringe benefits/wage information with your live payroll, you will be responsible for paying the employee s portion of OASDI and Medicare. You should contact your HR Department/Accountant, tax attorney or plan administrator for clarification or assistance in computing the value to be reported. Personal Use of a Company provided vehicle Group Term Life insurance in excess of $50,000 Third Party Sick Pay Non-Qualified Moving Expenses reimbursements S Corporation accident/health premiums paid up to 2% or more for shareholder employees Employer paid education not related to their job Value of certain awards and prizes Non-accountable business expense reimbursements Country club and health club dues Allocated tips (For Restaurant clients) Imputed value of Domestic partner benefits coverage. Please contact your Payroll Specialist for assistance in running these adjustments. If you know you are not going to have your year-end adjustments by 12/31/2015, please have your Payroll Specialist put your payroll in a HOLD STATUS for processing W2s and tax returns. Bonus Payrolls Bonus payrolls should be scheduled in advance. Bonus payrolls must be processed at minimum, 2 days in advance of check date. Keep in mind, once you process a bonus payroll, the bonus amounts will SHOW on the employees regular check stub and be included in their year to date. If you don t want the employee to see the bonus amount on their regular check stub, you MUST process a separate bonus payroll AFTER you process your REGULAR payroll. Note** Depending upon the size of your Bonus payroll, we may contact you to wire the funds for the Direct Deposit and Tax monies, if you utilize those services. Keep in mind, most banks require same day wires to be initiated before 2pm. ** For your Bonus payroll, we need to know the following: Check Date Processing Date (we will require it to be at least two days prior to Check Date) Page 4 of 10

5 Taxing the Bonus Check (Regular taxes or supplemental rates) What deductions will be taken (None, 401K, garnishments etc.) Direct Deposit or Live Checks. Verification of W2/1099 Preview Report: Please review the W2/1099 Preview report regarding your employees information to ensure accurate W2s are generated for each of your employees. This report is included with the last payroll scheduled to be processed in November. Remote Clients should make corrections to their employees through the Payroll Software directly. Year End Returns and W2s Pro Data Payroll will start to process your 2015 Quarterlies and W2s on 12/31/15. If you know you will have any adjustments to payroll but won t have them timely, please contact your Payroll Specialist to put your payroll on a HOLD STATUS for W2 and tax return processing. The last day your W2 processing can remain on a HOLD STATUS is January 15, 2016, before incurring additional processing fees. Direct Mail of W2s and/or a Year End CD Make your year-end less stressful and more convenient by utilizing our Direct Mailing of W2s to your employees home addresses. For only $1.50 per W2, we take the work out of mailing employee W2s. Our annual CD is also available for $ which will contain all your payroll reports, tax returns and W2s. Don t store paper, have your records on a CD. Please complete the appropriate form at the end of this document and fax to your Payroll Specialist no later than December 31, Limits for 2016 Social Security Changes: (To be finalized by end of December 2015) The 2015 Social Security Wage base is expected to stay the same at $118,500. The FICA Rate will remain at 6.2% for employee and employer up to the wage limit. The Medicare Rate will remain at 1.45% for taxable wages under the Medicare Thresholds. Additional Medicare Rate for 2015 The Additional Medicare tax rate will remain at.9 percent on Employees only once taxable wages exceed $200,000.The rate will then go from 1.45% to 2.35% on wages above the listed thresholds. There is NO employer match on the additional Medicare tax and no requirement for an employer to notify employees when it begins withholding the additional Medicare Tax amount. For more information: Additional-Medicare-Tax Page 5 of 10

6 Salary Deferral Limits: 401(k), 403(b), 457(e) Deferred compensation plans, etc. Elective Deferral: $18,000 Annual Compensation Limit: $265,000 Catch-Up contribution: $6,000 Annual Defined contributions Limit: $53,000 SIMPLE Plans Maximum Contributions: $12,500 Annual Compensation Limit: $265,000 Catch-Up Contributions: $3,000 Health Savings Account Limits Maximum Out-Of-Pocket Maximum HSA Contributions: $3,350 for Individual $6,550 for Individual $6,750 for Family $13,100 for Family $1,000 Catch-Up Limit Over age 55 in 2015 Minimum HDHP Deductible: $1,300 for Individual $2,600 for Family Flex Spending Accounts (will be finalized December 2015) $2,550 Medical Limit $5,000 Dependent Limit Reporting the Cost of Employer Sponsored Health Insurance on the 2015 W-2 Form The Affordable Care Act requires employers (issuing more than 250 W-2s in the previous tax year) must report the aggregate cost of coverage under an employer sponsored group health plan on the 2015 W2 form (box 12DD. Employers with less than 250 W-2s are asked to voluntarily comply with reporting the cost of insurance on the 2015 W2, in preparation for the full application of the provisions for You should have been contacted by your Payroll Specialist to gather this information for your 2015 W2s. If you would like more information on this issue, please go to: To track your Employer Costs, we suggest you utilize our Benefit tracking feature through your payroll. This feature will keep track of the Employee and Employer costs and print the Employer share on the W2. Once setup, this feature makes updating your annual insurance costs easy and less time consuming. There is no additional cost to add this feature. Contact your Payroll Specialist for more information. Page 6 of 10

7 Preparing for the 1 st Payroll of 2016: W-4 Notice: IRS Regulations require Employers to: Remind employees to file a new W4 if their filing status, exemption allowances or exempt status has changed since their last W4 filing. Obtain a new W4 for any employee claiming exemption from Federal Withholding. If you do not receive a new W4 by February 15 th, then you must withhold tax as if the employee is single with zero allowances. FUTA Credit Reduction States For tax year 2015 you may have to pay an additional FUTA tax if you have employees in any of the credit reduction states. Federal law provides for a reduction in the FUTA tax credit in those states that have an outstanding federal loan balance for two years. The reduction in the FUTA tax credit is 0.3% for the first year and an additional 0.3% for each succeeding year until the loan is repaid. The list of states is not available until December 2015, allowing those states on the list to pay back their loan by November 10, As of October 2015, there were 6 states on the list. Currently the following states are facing reductions: CA, CT, IN, KY, OH & SC. If you, as an Employer, have employees that work in any of these states, you will owe additional monies on the 940 form for Please be aware that there may be additional processing fees in order to calculate the additional FUTA tax passed on to you. Time off Balances: Make necessary adjustments to employee vacation, sick, personal or holiday balances if applicable. If you are not taking advantage of this benefit/feature and would like to, contact your Payroll Specialist. Unemployment Rates: Provide Pro Data Payroll with your new 2016 Unemployment Compensation rates for all states you pay Unemployment. Please provide this information to your Payroll Specialist before you process your first 2015 payroll. Most states send out the new rate information in November of each year. It is your responsibility to inform Pro Data Payroll Services of all unemployment tax rate changes. Failure to do so will result in penalties and interest fees to be passed on to you. Verify Tax Deposit Frequency: Provide Pro Data Payroll with any notice of change in your deposit frequency from the IRS or any State that you pay withholding. Please provide this information to your Payroll Specialist before you process your first 2016 payroll. These agencies DO NOT provide this information to Pro Data Payroll. Should a deposit be made in error due to frequency change, Pro Data will not be responsible for any penalty and/or interest charged. Close /Inactive Accounts: Make us aware of any states in which withholding or unemployment liabilities will no longer exist. Your Payroll Specialist can assist you with the proper procedures. Page 7 of 10

8 Direct Mail of W2s & 1099s Pro Data Payroll is pleased to offer a new service this year for delivering your employee s W2/1099 documents. WE will mail these documents directly to your employee s home addresses. We are offering this service at a cost of $1.50 per W2 or 1099 mailed. This includes all postage and handling. The cost will be billed in ADDITION to your normal year end service fees. This is an all or none offering. Why use the Direct Mail Feature: It is convenient It is confidential It will eliminate handling, postage and distribution of the W2s/1099s It will save time You will still receive the employer copy of W2s we send to you. If you are interested in this service, please complete and or fax this form to Pro Data Payroll no later than December 31, We will not be able to accept this form after this date. Once the W2/1099 forms are placed in the US Mail, we are unable to track the piece for your employees or businesses. Please complete the information below and to your Payroll Specialist or Fax to: Client Code: Client Name: Yes, we would like to utilize this new service of direct mailing of W2/1099 forms for 2015 for the following: Please check one or both. W2: 1099: Yes, I have reviewed the W-2/1099 Edit Report for accuracy of Social Security numbers and employee addresses. Authorized By: Date: Page 8 of 10

9 Annual CD of your Payroll Reports Pro Data is pleased to announce we will continue to offer a CD containing all your payroll reports on a payroll by payroll basis, all Quarterly Tax Returns and W2 ER copies. We will provide this to you by the end of January We are offering this service at a cost of $ per FEIN for the CD. The cost will be billed in ADDITION to your normal year end service fees. Why have a CD created for 2015: It is convenient to have all your payroll reports, tax returns and W2s in one place for storage. It is confidential don t have paper reports to store. It will save time if you are looking for information from a particular payroll or tax return. If you are interested in this service, please complete and or fax this form to Pro Data Payroll no later than January 22, Please complete the information below and to your Payroll Specialist or Fax to: Client Code: Client Name: Yes, we would like to utilize this new service of having a CD created for 2015 containing all my payroll reports, payroll by payroll, Quarterly Tax Returns and W2 forms for Authorized By: Date: Page 9 of 10

10 Holiday Schedule Holiday Day Date Bank Holiday Pro/Data Holiday Thanksgiving Day Thurs 11/26/2015 Yes Yes Thanksgiving Day After Fri 11/27/2015 No Yes Christmas Eve Thurs 12/24/2015 No At 3PM Christmas Day Fri 12/25/2015 Yes Yes New Year s Eve Thurs 12/31/2015 No At 3PM New Year's Day Fri 1/1/2016 Yes Yes Martin Luther King Day Mon 1/18/2016 Yes No Presidents Day Mon 2/15/2016 Yes No Memorial Day Mon 5/30/2016 Yes Yes Independence Day Mon 7/4/2016 Yes Yes Labor Day Mon 9/5/2016 Yes Yes Columbus Day Mon 10/10/2016 Yes No Veterans Day (Observed) Fri 11/11/2016 Yes No Thanksgiving Day Thurs 11/24/2016 Yes Yes Thanksgiving Day After Fri 11/25/2016 No Yes Christmas Day (Observed by ProData) Fri 12/23/2016 No Yes Christmas Day (Observed by Banks) Mon 12/26/2016 Yes No Page 10 of 10

Year End. Guide. At Your Service

Year End. Guide. At Your Service Year End 2017 Guide Precision Payroll of America (PPA) would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your business and to wish you a happy holiday season and a prosperous New Year. Please review