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2020 Payroll And 1099 Information

By Wanda Hooper

The year is coming to an end, and we want to provide information regarding changes for 2020. You may also use this summary quick reference guide.

Deadline for 1099 Filing – January 31, 2020

  • This 1099 information worksheet is for your use in preparing 1099 forms, or for you to provide us with the information so that we are can prepare these forms on your behalf. 
  • Late filing of mandatory 1099s could lead to penalties. Refer to “General Instructions for Certain Information Returns,”  irs.gov.

Deadline for W-2 Forms to the Government – January 31, 2020

  • The deadline to file W-2’s with the government has been accelerated to January 31; this change aims to make it easier for the IRS to detect and prevent refund fraud. The January 31 deadline has long applied to employers furnishing copies of these forms to their employees, so you now need to be sure to file with the government by this date.

FUTA Tax

  • The standard FUTA tax is 6% on the first $7,000 of wages subject to FUTA.

Sales Tax

Summary of Changes and Reminders for 2020

  • Social Security: The earnings limit will increase to $137,700.00.  The rate remains at 6.2% for both employee and employer.
  • Medicare: The rate remains at 1.45% with no limit.  Employees who earn more than $200,000 ($250,000 for married couples filing jointly) will continue to pay an extra 0.9% Medicare tax in 2020; employers don’t pay a matching portion for this amount.
  • State Disability Insurance (SDI): The rate remains at 1.00%, but the limit is raised to $122,909.00 for 2020.  (These changes should be installed with your payroll software update).
  • SUI: Verify and change your rate as necessary based on your notification received from EDD.  You should have received your new “EDD State of California Notice of Contribution Rates and Statement of UI Reserve Account for the year 2020” notice in the mail or you can find your new rate on the following website:  https://eddservices.edd.ca.gov/tap/open/rateinquiry/.

If your SUI rate has changed from the rate used in 2019, you need to manually change it in your computer payroll module.  Tax table updates do not include your new SUI and ETT rate.  Make this change before you process a 2020 payroll.

  • Minimum Wage: Minimum wage is increasing effective January 1.  For companies with 26 or more employees, minimum wage will be $13.00 per hour.  For companies with 25 or less employees, minimum wage will be $12.00 per hour.  The California minimum wage is scheduled to increase every January by $1 per hour until 2022.
  • Mileage rate for 2020: Not released – Continue to check https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/standard-mileage-rates for the updated rate when released. 
  • W-2 Reporting of Health Insurance Premiums: irs.gov, “The Affordable Care Act and Employers”

The Affordable Care Act requires employers to report the cost of coverage under an employer-sponsored group health plan.  Reporting the cost of health care coverage on the Form W-2 does not mean that the coverage is taxable.  The value of the employer’s excludable contribution to health coverage continues to be excludable from an employee’s income and is not taxable.  This reporting is for informational purposes only and will provide employees with useful and comparable consumer information on the cost of their health care coverage.  The value of the health care coverage will be reported in Box 12 of the Form W-2, with Code DD to identify the amount.  There is no reporting on the Form WEstate and Trusts of the total of these amounts for all employees.  In general, the amount reported should include both the portion paid by the employer and the portion paid by the employee.

  • The Affordable Care Act requires employers with at least 50 full-time workers to offer employee health insurance. Each year, those employers must send a statement (Form 1095-C) to all employees eligible for coverage and also report to the IRS.  Form 1094-C acts as a cover sheet for the 1095-C reporting information to be sent only to the IRS.
    For more information on this filing requirement, please contact our Core Accounting Services Department.

HSA Limits – www.irs.gov, “Health Savings Accounts”

  • The maximum individual annual contribution increases to $3,550.00 (over 55 may add $1,000 = $4,550.00).
  • The maximum family annual contribution increases to $7,100.00 (over 55 may add $1,000 = $8,100.00).

Pension Limits –  www.irs.gov, “Retirement Plans”

  • The 401(k) annual contribution limit increases to $19,500.00 (individuals over 50 may contribute $26,000.00).
    For more information on various retirement plan limits go to the website above.

If you are utilizing payroll software, you should receive a new tax table update, or it will be available for download.  Updates will need to be installed after running 2019 year-end reports, and before processing any payroll for 2020.  Be certain to update your tables and closely review your first payroll in 2020.  Again, change the SUI and ETT rates in your software, if necessary.

If you need to re-run any 2019 reports after changing rates, you must revert back to the 2019 information, re-run reporting, then update to 2020 information again.

If you have any questions regarding your software, payroll taxes, or 1099s, don’t hesitate to contact our office.
Please ask for one of our qualified Client Accounting Services Department staff members to assist you.  We are happy to be of service.