In a recent District Court decision, a court held that non-qualified deferred compensation benefits being paid to a participant under a “top hat” plan could be garnished by the participant’s creditor. Employers who sponsor plans covered by ERISA know that creditors cannot garnish a participant’s benefits under a qualified retirement plan. Any state laws
Understanding Employee Benefits and key developments in the employee benefits field and items of interest to our clients. MORE
Payroll
IRS Issues Guidance on W-2 Reporting of Health Care Coverage
By Stinson LLP on
The IRS issued recently FAQs relating to W-2 reporting of employer-provided health care coverage, a health care reform requirement that employers must first meet for the 2012 calendar year. We have previously discussed these requirements [Link to earlier health care reform posts]. These FAQs largely restate prior guidance.
The IRS also released an article on …
Beware Unexpected Tax Consequences from Telecommuting
By Stinson LLP on
Mary worked for IT, Inc. at its headquarters in Maryland. Her husband moved to New Jersey for his work and Mary moved with him. Mary continued to work for IT, Inc., writing computer code from her home in New Jersey and uploading her work to her co-workers in Maryland via the Internet. IT, Inc. withheld …
Unreasonably Low Compensation and FICA Taxes
By Stinson LLP on
In many cases where the IRS claims that compensation is not “reasonable,” the focus is on whether the compensation is too high to be deductible by the employer. The arguments are often reversed in the S corporation context. Because there is only one level of tax in the S Corporation, some owners try to minimize…
Payroll Tax Holiday Extension Contains Recapture Provision
By Stinson LLP on
Most of us have heard that Congress finally extended the 2% payroll tax holiday for two months, namely, through February 29, 2012. In order to prevent highly paid employees from front loading their wages to take advantage of the payroll tax holiday for the entire $110,100 social security wage base, the legislation includes a recapture…