Payroll Answer Book Payroll Answer Book gives payroll professionals guidance on the steps they need to take to comply with the laws and regulations governing payroll. From both a legal and practical standpoint, broad and deep coverage is given to the payroll implications of the wage and hour law and how to handle the federal employment taxation of benefits offered to employees.

Detailed information is provided on computing and paying payroll taxes, how to handle garnishments and other deductions, how to determine whether workers are employees or independent contractors, what records must be kept, what the benefits and disadvantages of direct deposit of employees’ wages are, how to treat sick pay, how to handle a merger or acquisition, what to ask when employees work abroad, and how the payroll department can protect employees’ data. In addition to answering the full range of payroll questions, the Payroll Answer Book contains abundant examples that illustrate necessary calculations.

The 2020 Edition of Payroll Answer Book brings the payroll professional up to date on the latest federal law and regulatory changes with many updates related to COVID-19:

Some of the many highlights include:

Safe harbor rule for de minimis errors Department of Labor issues Rule 17A, the long-awaited rules for overtime. COVID-19 paid sick and family leave relief for employers How COVID-19 affects Form 941 COVID-19 impact on unemployment benefits and taxes New Form 1099-NEC for nonemployee compensation Increased penalties for unfiled 1099-NEC (formerly 1099-MISC) Updated guidelines for CPEO (Certified Professional Employer Organization) reporting Increase in age, from 701/2 to 72, for required minimum distributions (RMDs). However, COVID-19 legislation suspends the RMD requirement for 2020 Rules for retirement distributions paid due to COVID-19 Final rules for hardship distributions from 401(k) plans Update on state rules around tipped employees DOL announced proposed rule for tip credit DOL issued Final Rule to eliminate the restriction that on-call employment situations must be infrequent or sporadic to be excludable from employee’s regular rate of pay calculation DOL issued Final Rule related to which benefits paid to an employee can be excluded from the regular rate of pay Lowering of threshold for filing Forms W-2 electronically Accelerated due date for filing Forms W-2 Employers may voluntarily truncate employees’ SSNs on Forms W-2 How to complete the 2020 W-2 Form COVID-19 legislation allows employers to temporarily treat the payment of qualified education loans as educational assistance COVID-19 effect on retirement plan loans Guidelines for substitute Forms W-2 and 941 Update on states that have passed paid family leave legislation The trend of legislation regarding data privacy Impact of the GDPR on the Privacy Shield Agreement Recommendation when testing payroll implementation globally 2020 FICA exclusion amounts for election workers and household workers IRS’s intent to eliminate the combined income tax withholding and employee FICA tax withholding tables Due dates for filing 2020 Forms 941 And much more!

Previous Edition: Payroll Answer Book, 2019 Edition, ISBN: 9781543811520