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American Payroll Association (APA) Basic Guide to Payroll, 2013 Edition
It's more important than ever to be in compliance with payroll laws and regulations! How do you stay in compliance and avoid penalties? The APA Basic Guide to Payroll is written to make understanding the laws and regulations as easy as possible. And this single-volume guide is filled with tools to help you apply the law and make proper calculations – with ease!
The IRS has issued 2014 Form 941-X, Adjusted Employer’s QUARTERLY Federal Tax Return or Claim for Refund and Instructions.
What’s New
Claiming the COBRA premium assistance credit. Effective for tax periods beginning after December 31, 2013, the COBRA premium assistance credit cannot be claimed on Form 941 or 941-SS. Instead, use Form 941-X, lines 19a and 19b, to claim the credit. Form 941-X should be filed after filing Form 941 or 941-SS. Filing a Form 941-X before filing a Form 941 or 941-SS for the quarter may result in errors or delays in processing the Form 941-X. For more information, visit IRS.gov and enter “COBRA” in the search box. Those who are entitled to claim the COBRA premium assistance credit, but who are not otherwise required to file Form 941 or 941-SS, should file a Form 941 with -0- entered on line 12 before filing Form 941-X to claim the credit.
Social security tax rate for 2014. The employee social security tax rate is 6.2% and the employer social security tax rate is 6.2% (12.4% total). In 2011 and 2012, the employee social security tax rate was 4.2% and the employer social security tax rate was 6.2% (10.4% total). Be sure to use the correct rate when reporting correct amounts on lines 8 and 9.
Period of limitations to make certain corrections expired. Generally, overreported taxes may be corrected on a previously filed Form 941 if Form 941-X is filed within 3 years of the date Form 941 was filed or 2 years from the date the tax reported on Form 941 was paid, whichever is later. For purposes of the period of limitations, Forms 941 for a calendar year are considered filed on April 15 of the succeeding year if filed before that date.
The period of limitations to correct the qualified employer's tax exemption on wages/tips paid to qualified employees (for quarters ending after March 31, 2010, and before January 1, 2011); the qualified employer's tax credit on wages/tips paid to qualified employees March 19–31, 2010; and advance earned income credit (EIC) payments expired on April 15, 2014, for most employers. The lines formerly used for these corrections were removed from Form 941-X. If the period of limitations for any of these corrections is still open, the April 2013 revision of Form 941-X will need to be filed.
Reminders
Correcting wages and tips subject to Additional Medicare Tax withholding. Beginning with the first quarter of 2013, wages and tips subject to Additional Medicare Tax withholding are reported on Form 941, line 5d. Any errors discovered on a previously filed Form 941 are corrected on Form 941-X, line 11. For more information about Additional Medicare Tax withholding, see the Instructions for Form 941 and go to IRS.gov and enter “Additional Medicare Tax” in the search box. See the instructions for line 11 for more information on the types of errors that can be corrected and how the correction is reported on Form 941-X.
Aggregate Form 941. Agents must complete Schedule R (Form 941), Allocation Schedule for Aggregate Form 941 Filers, when correcting an aggregate Form 941. Schedule R (Form 941) is completed only for those clients who have corrections reported on Form 941-X. Schedule R (Form 941) is filed as an attachment to Form 941-X. Aggregate Forms 941 are filed by agents approved by the IRS under section 3504. To request approval to act as an agent for an employer, the agent files Form 2678, Employer/Payer Appointment of Agent, with the IRS.
Section 3121(q) Notice and Demand--Tax due on unreported tips. An employer enters the amount of social security and Medicare taxes on unreported tips shown on the Section 3121(q) Notice and Demand on line 5f (line 5e for quarters ending before January 1, 2013) of the employer's Form 941 for the calendar quarter corresponding to the “Date of Notice and Demand.” Any errors discovered on a previously filed Form 941 for these taxes are corrected on Form 941-X, line 12.
Retroactive increase in excludible transit benefits for 2012. The American Taxpayer Relief Act (ATRA) increased the monthly transit benefit exclusion from $125 per participating employee to $240 per participating employee for the period of January 1, 2012, through December 31, 2012. Employers were provided instructions on how to correct the social security and Medicare taxes on the excess transit benefits in Notice 2013-8, 2013-7 I.R.B. 486, available at www.irs.gov/irb/2013-07_IRB/ ar08.html.
Correcting the COBRA premium assistance credit. For tax periods ending before January 1, 2014, employers who made COBRA premium assistance payments for assistance eligible individuals were allowed a credit on their Form 941 or 941-SS. Any errors discovered on a previously filed Form 941 or 941-SS for this credit are corrected on Form 941-X, lines 19a and 19b. Effective for tax periods beginning after December 31, 2013, Form 941-X, is used to both report the total COBRA premium assistance credit an employer is entitled to claim and correct any previously reported credit. For more information, see the instructions for lines 19a and 19b, later. (Form 941-X, Adjusted Employer’s QUARTERLY Federal Tax Return or Claim for Refund, (Rev. April 2014) and Instructions).
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