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U.S. Master™ Wage-Hour Guide, 2009 Edition 
Presents a first approach to the broad and complex controls under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and other statutes regulating employee wages and hours.
Starting in February 2010, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will launch a major audit initiative focusing on the underpayment of employment taxes by employers. Part of its Employment Tax National Research Project (NRP) –the agency's first such project in 25 years – the IRS will randomly select 2,000 employers to audit each year for the next three years. Those employers will be subjected to comprehensive audits of their employment tax practices. "The results of the audits will allow the IRS to gauge more accurately the extent to which businesses properly comply with employment tax law and related reporting requirements," said the agency. "When completed, this information will help the IRS select and audit future employment tax returns with the greatest compliance risk."
The IRS began the NRP in 2000 to measure the so-called tax gap - the gap between taxes voluntarily reported by taxpayers and the amounts actually due to the IRS, reports the Aspen Publishers’ Payroll Manager's Letter. Past NRP projects have focused on audits of randomly selected individuals and S corporations. The IRS Advisory Council also recommended that the IRS utilize the NRP to explore employment tax and independent contractor issues. As part of FY 2009 work plan, the IRS Office of Federal, State and Local Governments announced that it will participate in the NRP project to develop data to help identify sources of the tax gap related to employment taxes, reports the Payroll Manager's Letter.
The NRP scheduled to begin in February 2010 will focus on four areas that the IRS believes currently are improperly reported by employers:
(1) Worker classification (employee vs independent contractor);
(2) Fringe benefits;
(3) Executive compensation; and
(4) Reimbursed expenses.
For more information on this and other topics, consult CCH Employment Practices Guide or CCH Labor Relations.
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