Overview
Paychex PEO is committed to helping you prepare and plan for year-end. Please use this guide to help make sure you have a successful 2015 year-end. The guide contains a lot of reminders about payroll that occur only at the end of the year so they are easy to forget from year to year. We value your business and look forward to helping you with your payroll processing needs for fourth quarter and year-end.
The deadline for reporting fourth quarter and year-end payroll information or changes to your payroll contact is Thursday, December 31, 2015 or before your first payroll with a January 2016 check date, whichever is earlier. If any adjustments are needed after the deadline, please let your payroll contact know immediately. We can reprocess the tax returns, including employee Forms W-2, after the deadline; however, there will be an additional charge and a processing delay.
Please review your year-end information and report any of the following items to your payroll specialist on or before your final payroll of the quarter so that we can accurately calculate your payroll and tax deposit information:
Year-End Reminders
• Payroll checks you issued in-house and have not reported • Payroll checks you voided and have not reported
• Sick pay or disability payments made to your employees by a third party
Note: If you work with an accounting professional, please remind them to report payroll-related
adjustments on or before the deadline.
Holiday Hours
The Saint Petersburg office will close:
• At 5:00 p.m. ET on Christmas Eve, Thursday, December 24, 2015 and New Year’s Eve, Thursday, December 31,2016.
• All day on Christmas, Friday, December 25, 2015, and New Year’s Day, Friday, January 1, 2016.
If you have additional questions about the holiday processing schedules, please contact your Paychex PEO payroll specialist.
Payroll Processing Reminders
To help ensure timely and accurate payroll processing and delivery:
• Report your payroll by noon (based on your time zone) no later than two business days before your check date. If there is a bank holiday, we must receive your payroll three business days prior to the check date.
• When faxing information to us, please use the fax payroll cover sheet that we have provided; if you do not have a copy of this form, notify your payroll specialist.
• Please fax or mail garnishment orders directly to the attention of the Garnishment Department to allow for timely receipt and processing at 800-668-7296.
Fast, Easy Administration of Employee Benefits
Paychex Website
For forms and additional information, access the Paychex PEO website at paychexonline.com. You will be required to enter your branch number (0741) and client number (XXXXXXXX). This information is located in the upper left corner of your payroll reports. Use the Search function at the bottom of the page or select the Category and then scroll to the appropriate form to access it.
Paychex Online Reports – Forms W-2
Paychex can provide your employees’ Forms W-2 in a user-friendly online environment. You may access your employees’ Forms W-2 online; the forms are file and print-ready. If changes are made on your employees’ forms, the most current copy will update online for viewing and printing. Information is available 24/7 for your convenience. Talk to your payroll specialist for more information as well as to make changes/corrections to your employees’ Form W-2 information.
Negative Wages
Negative wages on returns are not accepted by federal or state tax agencies. Verify quarter-to-date wages when voiding checks to ensure voided payroll entries will not result in a negative wage situation for the current quarter. If you have questions, ask your payroll specialist.
Employee Name and Address List
If you would like to receive an employee name and address list to assist you to verify employee names, addresses, and social security numbers (SSNs), please ask your payroll specialist.
• Complete the Employee Change/Termination Form to report any employee changes no later than December 31, 2015. Please ensure you have the necessary federal and state
withholding forms available when reporting new employees.
• Verify that you have reported the correct name and SSN for each employee.
Processing Bonus Payrolls
Bonus checks can be processed with your regular payroll, but must be processed independently if a separate payroll journal is necessary, or if checks are issued with a date other than your normal payroll date. Schedule a reporting time with your payroll specialist if you need to process bonus checks separately.
Note: Bonus payrolls will be processed with the standard Internal Revenue Service (IRS) supplemental
wage withholding tax of 25 percent. If the supplemental wages are more than $1,000,000 year to date, the tax will be withheld at 39.6 percent.
Income Tax Withholding
The amount of federal income tax withheld must be based on marital status and withholding allowances, per IRS regulations (Publication 15). Your employees may not base withholding amounts on a fixed-dollar amount or percentage; however, employees may specify a dollar amount to be withheld in addition to the amount of withholding based on filing status and withholding allowances claimed on Form W-4.
Employees Should Check Their Pay Stubs in the New Year
Are Employees Having Enough Tax Withheld in 2016?
State Unemployment Insurance Rate (SUI)
You should receive notification of your SUI tax rate for 2016 for the following states. We need this rate to calculate your SUI tax expense correctly. We do not automatically receive this information from the tax agency.
If you receive a SUI tax rate notice from one or more of the following states, write your client number on the notice and immediately fax it to 800-668-7296, or mail a copy of the notice to your payroll specialist:
Alaska Kansas Mississippi South Carolina
Arkansas Kentucky Nebraska South Dakota
Connecticut Maine North Dakota Tennessee
Delaware Massachusetts Ohio Vermont
Illinois Michigan Pennsylvania Washington
Iowa Minnesota Rhode Island Wyoming
Reporting Amounts on Form W-2, Box 14
The IRS allows employers to use Form W-2, Box 14 (Other), to report certain adjustments to an employee’s pay (e.g., charitable contributions); these can be set up to print in Box 14. Use the following guidelines when choosing a title for the adjustment:
• Only the first five letters of the adjustment (earning or deduction) will print in Box 14. • Be descriptive. For example, “Misc” may not clearly substantiate a charitable contribution. • Your payroll specialist can change your adjustment title before processing your Forms W-2.
Report Cost of Coverage under Employer-Sponsored Health Plan
The IRS requires that employers issuing 250 or more Forms W-2 in the previous year report the cost of coverage under the applicable employer-sponsored group health plans on their employees’ Forms
W-2 during W-2015. Paychex PEO will report the cost of coverage for all employees who were covered under
the applicable PEO sponsored group health plans during 2015. If you self-retained any group health plans in 2015 you must provide them to your payroll specialist before the year-end reporting deadline in order for Paychex PEO to report these amounts on your Forms W-2 for 2015.
Note: In 2015, all Vermont employers who issues Forms W-2 are required to report the cost of
coverage under an employer-sponsored group health plan on their employees’ Forms W-2
Reporting Third-Party Sick Pay (Disability Payments)
By law, insurance companies have until Thursday, January 15, 2015, to inform you of any disability insurance benefits paid to your employees during 2015. If you are notified about such a payment after reporting your last payroll of the year, call your payroll specialist. In addition, if you have not already done so, please inform your insurance company that we will include third-party sick pay on the Forms W-2 that we prepare for you. Your employee Forms W-2 should receive their Forms W-2 no later than
Monday, February 1, 2016..
Earnings Records and Payroll Reports
You can safely access your Payroll Reports and Employee Earnings Records for each employee at your convenience using a customized date range using our Paychex Online Reports Service. On the left navigation bar, click Reporting, Reports, Employee Earnings Record; to customize it to fit your needs, click the Show Report Options on the right.
This report provides a wealth of information, including:
• Individual employee rate and salary history.
• Employment verification to help employees substantiate earnings within a period of time for mortgages and loans.
• Details about adjustments and amount information to reconcile deductions such as health insurance or retirement plan contributions.
Changes and Missing Information
Please review your company name, address, and federal and state ID numbers on your payroll reports. If any of this information has changed or is missing, refer to the following information to ensure that your tax payments and returns are calculated and reported correctly.
Changing or Missing Information
Client
Responsibility Paychex Responsibility
Company's legal name changed but federal, state, local, and state
unemployment insurance (SUI) ID numbers,
organization, or ownership did not change
Provide us with name change documentation from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Provide us with name change documentation from the SUI, state, and local withholding tax agency.
We will make a name change only if we receive verification from the IRS.
Business federal address changed
Go to www.irs.gov to access IRS Change of Address Form (Form 8822-B), It is your responsibility to complete Form 8822-B and file the form with the IRS. Send the original to the IRS and a copy to your payroll specialist.
Send the IRS confirmation of your address change to your payroll specialist.
We will make an address change when you inform your payroll specialist or human resource generalist
Business, state, and local agency address changed
Refer to the state or local agency website where your business is located for procedures on how to change your address.
Complete appropriate paperwork with state/local agency to change your business address.
Fringe Benefits
Group-Term Life InsuranceThe value of group-term life insurance in excess of $50,000 that is included in total wages is FICA taxable even if the insurance was provided through a cafeteria plan. As the employer, you are liable for employee FICA if you decide not to withhold it from the employee’s pay; however, if you need to report group-term life insurance information for a terminated or retired individual, please notify your payroll specialist to discuss your options.
Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
Contributions to a medical FSA are made pretax and are used to pay eligible out-of-pocket health and dental costs such as co-payments,
deductibles, eye care expenses, contact lenses and solutions, braces, prescription drugs, certain over-the-counter items, and hospital care.
Contributions to dependent care FSAs can be used to help pay for child care and approved dependent adult care. Now is the time to help your employees sign up for an FSA for next year. If you want to set up an FSA, inform your HRG or payroll specialist.
Dependent Care Assistance
On Form W-2, Box 10 (Dependent Care Benefits), employers are required to report the total amount of dependent care benefits paid or incurred for the employee in excess of the $5,000.00 exclusion. If you provided dependent care services to
employees under an employer-sponsored program before your last payroll for the year, please report the benefits paid or furnished.
Any taxable cash or non-cash benefit
you give to your employees must be
included on their Forms W-2
The value of personal use of company cars, or any other taxable cash or non-cash benefit, must be included on Form W-2.
Report these benefits before your last payroll for the year. Reporting taxable benefits with cash wages allows the appropriate withholding taxes to be deducted from employees’ checks. If these amounts are processed without wages, you may be required to pay the employee's portion of social security and Medicare taxes.
The following is specific information about several types of benefits:
Group-Term Life Insurance
Educational Assistance Program
The exclusion for employer-provided educational assistance under a qualified Section 127 plan for 2015 is:
• Non-job related undergraduate and graduate courses are exempt up to $5,250.00.
• All job-related education assistance reimbursements are exempt from withholding and employer taxes if they qualify as a working condition fringe benefit.
If you have not already reported these reimbursements with your payroll, please report them before your final payroll for the year.
Additional Reporting Requirements
Reporting Taxable Adjustments for Separated Employees
Taxable adjustments (for example, personal use of a company car, imputed value of group-term life insurance) should be reported with regular payroll whenever possible. Regular reporting of these adjustments allows required employee taxes to be withheld from wages. If taxable adjustments are reported without wages, the employer may be liable for the employee portion of taxes.
When employees leave the company voluntarily or involuntarily, the employer should report taxable adjustments with the employees’ last checks; otherwise, the employer may be liable for the employee portion of taxes.
If the employer pays any part of an employee's income tax or FICA withholding, the amount paid must be reported as additional taxable wages for the employee. Additional employment taxes, both employee and employer portions, must be withheld on this added income.
Federal Form 8027/8027T for Restaurant Clients
Paychex will file Forms 8027 and 8027T to report tip allocations on behalf of clients with our TEFRA service
