IRS Regulatory Updates for Employers on State Taxes, Wage/Hour Laws & Garnishments for Multistate Employees

Webinar Background & Agenda :

Complying with the tax code, tax withholding requirements and deposit schedules for the IRS and one state is complicated enough. But for the multistate employer, multiply this by 5, 10, or 20 or even 50 and it can turn into a payroll department's nightmare. This includes determining liability as an employer, reciprocal agreements, resident and nonresident taxation, Form W-4 equivalents, state unemployment insurance, wage and hour law requirements and garnishment withholding, and much more. Not only are there more rules and regulations to comply with, but the penalties can multiply if mistakes are made.

All payroll professional must know the taxation and reporting requirements for all states where the company has employees working or in the case of reciprocal agreements, living.  But for the payroll department that must handle employees who work in multiple states simultaneously or who travel to different states at different times for the employer the taxing and reporting requirements can become an arduous task at best and at worse a total fiasco.  Employees working from home can add even more to the complexity! Questions must be answered, sometimes on an employee by employee or even tougher on a case by case basis for an individual employee. Which state income tax is withheld?  Does it matter if the employee is a resident or a nonresident of the state? Are there any reciprocal agreements in effect that must be taken into consideration?  Which state do we pay the SUI to and what happens if one of the states has disability insurance but the other doesn’t? Or worse yet what if both states require disability insurance to be deducted? Also, an employer with employees working in multiple states does not just have taxes to deal with. Now there are also wage and hour laws to contend with! In a different (read: higher) minimum wage? Are the overtime rules different? Would that employee still be exempt?

Areas covered in this webinar:

• How to determine state withholding liability
• Who is a resident
• How reciprocal agreements affect taxation of wages
• Resident and nonresident taxation policies
• The four-factor test for state unemployment insurance
• Income and unemployment taxation of Fringe benefits
• What wage and hour laws must be followed
• How to handle income and unemployment insurance taxation for employees working in multiple states
• How working in multiple states could affect withholding for garnishments
• Withholding requirements when an employee is in a state temporarily
• Which states require the use of their own Withholding Allowance Certificate, which states allow either theirs or the Form W-4, and which states do not have a form
• Reporting wages for multistate employees on Form W-2
• How to handle garnishment withholding for a multistate employee

Ask your questions & get expert advice directly from the speaker during the informative Q/A session at the end of the webinar session.

Some employers may even think they have solved this logistics and regulations nightmare by simply withholding the income for and paying the SUI over to the state where the employee lives.  And this might appear to be good in theory but in actual practice it is an audit disaster waiting to happen and happen it will.  Only if the employee is performing some work in the state in which they live would the employer have a hope of passing the audit for paying the SUI.  But when it comes to state income tax audits it won’t even come close.  Most states require state income tax withholding for wages paid for work performed in the state.  The only ground given in this area is usually for reciprocal agreements and nonresident employees who may be in the state for a limited time. No, the only way to determine the proper taxation for multiple state employees is by researching and apply the requirements for each state. And this is where this webinar will help. This webinar will cover the intricacies and requirements that must be addressed by the multistate employer.

Instructor Profile: Vicki M. Lambert, CPP, is President and Academic Director of The Payroll Advisor™, a firm specializing in payroll education and training. The company’s website www.thepayrolladvisor.com offers a payroll news service which keeps payroll professionals up-to-date on the latest rules and regulations. With nearly 40 years of hands-on experience in all facets of payroll functions as well as over three decades as a trainer and author, Ms. Lambert has become the most sought-after and respected voice in the practice and management of payroll issues.  She has conducted open market training seminars on payroll issues across the United States that have been attended by executives and professionals from some of the most prestigious firms in business today. A pioneer in electronic and online education, Ms. Lambert produces and presents payroll related audio seminars, webinars and webcasts for clients, APA chapters and business groups throughout the country. Ms. Lambert is an adjunct faculty member at Brandman University in Southern California and is the creator of and instructor for their Practical Payroll Online program, which is approved for recertification hours by the APA. She is also the instructor for the American Payroll Association’s “PayTrain” online program also offered by Brandman University.