144 tagged with "Payroll"
Payroll management, processing, and compliance for businesses of all sizes
Section 79 Group-Term Life Insurance: The $50,000 Tax-Free Limit, IRS Table I, and W-2 Code C
How Section 79 actually works in 2026 — the $50,000 employer-paid group-term life exclusion, the IRS Table I rates (unchanged since 1999) that turn excess coverage into W-2 Box 12 Code C imputed income, plus the straddle rule, the $2,000 dependent de minimis, and the 2% S-corp shareholder trap.
VCSP and Form 8952: Reclassify Contractors as Employees for About 1% of Back Payroll Taxes
The IRS Voluntary Classification Settlement Program lets eligible employers reclassify 1099 workers as W-2 employees for roughly 1.068% of last year's compensation, with no interest, no penalties, and no employment-tax audit of prior years on those workers.
Wage Garnishment for Employers: How to Process Withholding Orders Without Becoming Personally Liable
A payroll operations guide to wage garnishment: how to calculate disposable earnings under the CCPA, apply the correct caps for creditor, child support, IRS, and student loan orders, prioritize multiple orders on one paycheck, and keep records that hold up under audit.
ACA Forms 1094-C and 1095-C: The 2026 Compliance Playbook for Applicable Large Employers
How Applicable Large Employers file Forms 1094-C and 1095-C for the 2025 reporting year. Covers the March 2 and March 31, 2026 deadlines, the post-2024 furnishing-on-request rule, the 2026 penalty amounts ($3,340 and $5,010 per employee), the new 90-day Letter 226-J response window, and the Line 14/16 coding errors that most often trigger IRS audits.
COBRA Notice Deadlines for Employers: The Five Windows That Decide Whether You Owe Excise Taxes
COBRA's notice scheme runs on five deadlines — 90, 30, 14, 60, and 45 days. Miss any one and a group health plan can face a $100-per-day Section 4980B excise tax, up to $110-per-day ERISA penalties, and private lawsuits. A practical guide for plan sponsors and HR teams.
First-Time Penalty Abatement Goes Automatic in 2026: Clean-Compliance IRS Relief for Failure-to-File, Pay, and Deposit Penalties
Starting filing season 2026, the IRS will apply First-Time Penalty Abatement automatically for taxpayers with a clean three-year compliance record — wiping Failure-to-File, Failure-to-Pay, and Failure-to-Deposit penalties without a phone call or Form 843. Here is how the rollout works, who qualifies, and when reasonable cause is the smarter move.
OBBBA No Tax on Overtime: How the New $12,500 Deduction for FLSA Premium Pay Works Through 2028
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act creates an above-the-line deduction of up to $12,500 ($25,000 joint) on FLSA-required overtime premium pay for tax years 2025-2028, with a MAGI phase-out starting at $150,000 single and mandatory W-2 Box 12 Code TT reporting from 2026.
No Tax on Tips: How the New $25,000 Above-the-Line Deduction Actually Works for Servers, Stylists, and Drivers Through 2028
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act creates an above-the-line deduction of up to $25,000 in qualified tips for tax years 2025 through 2028, available only to workers in IRS-listed tipped occupations and phased out above $150,000 MAGI ($300,000 joint).
Section 127 Educational Assistance: How Small Businesses Pay $5,250 of Tuition or Student Loans Tax-Free in 2026
Section 127 lets employers reimburse up to $5,250 per employee per year for tuition, books, or student loan principal and interest with no payroll or income tax. OBBBA made the student loan provision permanent in July 2025 and begins indexing the cap to inflation in 2027 — here is how a small business sets up a compliant plan.
Section 132 Fringe Benefits: How Employers Deliver Tax-Free Perks Without Inflating Payroll
A practical guide to Section 132 fringe benefits — working condition, de minimis, employee discounts, no-additional-cost services, the 2026 $340/month transportation limits, and achievement award rules — covering which perks qualify as tax-free, the cash-equivalent trap, and how to document everything so the program survives an IRS payroll audit.
Section 162(m) and the $1 Million Cap: Why Your Covered Employee List Is About to Get a Lot Longer in 2026
Section 162(m) caps a public company's federal deduction for executive pay at $1 million per person. Starting in 2026, OBBBA aggregates compensation across the IRC § 414 controlled group — including partnerships and LLCs — and the ARPA expansion adds the five highest-paid employees to the covered list in 2027.
Mandatory Roth Catch-Up Contributions in 2026: Why High Earners Over $150,000 Are Losing the Pre-Tax Choice
Beginning January 1, 2026, SECURE 2.0 forces employees with prior-year FICA wages above $150,000 to make 401(k) catch-up contributions on a Roth basis—$8,000 standard, $11,250 for ages 60–63—with no pre-tax option. Here is exactly who is affected, what it costs in real dollars, and the steps to take before the first paycheck of 2026.