Time Tracking and Job Cost Modules

[Marsh]

Is there a way in Mas 90 to track employees hired under the new HIRE Act?  And to be able to track the employer portion of the FICA tax?   Will there be an update to the 941 form for MAS 90? Will be running our biweekly payroll on Monday.  We file our 941 biweekly.

[TomTarget]

I claim to be no expert on this so anyone who knows more, please chime in.

Based on a quick reading of the provisions from unofficial sources, this looks to me to be something that would get reconciled on an individual's 1040 not in the payroll system of the employer.

I suspect this because the provisions can kick in if the combined wages of the employee and spouse are over $250K.  How's an employer going to keep track of that?  And why whould an employer have to take a hit for a married employee?

[jnelsonut]

From reading the article in the below link, I think Mas will have to come up with a way to track this.  If not, you would have to do your 941 manually instead of printing it from MAS.

Unless I'm completely missing the point of the article.

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=220326,00.html

Joe

[TomTarget]

Whoops.  I think we must be talking about two different things.   Looks like there are a couple of things going on.  Mine had something to do with the employee side.

That article's entirely different from what I was basing my original comments on.  It definitely relates to the employer side.

[TomTarget]

I would set up a special earnings code.  You can set the earnings code to be subject to employee FICA and not employer FICA.

Not clear how this would be reported on the 941 however?  I don't see anything on 1st Qtr 2010 form to deal with this.

[photo7589]

According to the article, this won't show on the 941 till 2nd qtr so 1st qtr form wouldn't indicate how it will be handled.  The articles indicates employers will claim the tax benefit, so I wonder if it will show as a line item reducing the employers fica tax owed.

I'm not so sure I'd recommend short paying the tax liability each payperiod and run the risk of a 'short pay' penalty (by using the earnings code not subject to employer fica).  It would be easier to assume you have to pay and claim the credit /overpayment for the first quarter this is in effect.

Nancy

[Marsh]

For this payroll I entered a special code in the Sort Field on the Employees File Maintenance in order to keep track of the employee that falls in with the requirements.  As I understand the Act, you are to pay in as normal on the 941 but then on the 2nd Qtr. 941 report there will be a credit for the overpayment.  I am keeping a spreadsheet to track the Employer part of the FICA for the credit amount.  Before doing the code on short paying the FICA I want to see how the 941 handles the credit.  Thanks for your help.  Hopefully there will be an easier way in which to accomplish the same thing but automatically.

[ebjelovs]

Everyone,

The team at Sage is keeping an eye on this for you, no worries!  However, as noted earlier in this thread, you will not be required to report on this until the second quarter of 2010. As a result, until the IRS posts the actual changes for the Federal Form 941, we at Sage don't exactly know what work we have to do in our MAS 90 and 200 Payroll module.  It is definitely the Employer expense and not the Employee filing that is affected. We anticipate you will need to setup an Earnings Code that is flagged as not subject to Employer FICA and use this new Earnings Code when entering payroll for these specific employees so the Employer Expense is calculated correctly.  What we don't know is if we will need to bucket  the earnings amounts subject to 'ER FICA and not subject to 'ER FICA separately by employee or make other changes based on the new requirements.  So, for now, stay tuned until we get more information from the federal government on these changes. 

[emaher]

Any updates on this?

Eric Maher

Systems Analyst

Slocum Dickson Medical Group, PLLC

[TomTarget]

I have seen a draft of the new form from the IRS which essentially shows some extra lines as a reduction of the numbers we reported in the past.

My real question at the moment is whether you get to short the deposits up front or a claim a refund when you file your 941.