The IRS released a second draft of the 2019 Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate, on October 12. The latest draft Form W-4 is very similar to the 2018 Form W-4 with a few non-substantive language changes in the general instructions.  In several sections of the new draft of the Form W-4, the IRS added language clarifying that employees should take into account non-wage income “not subject to withholding” in using the various worksheets and that the child tax credit may be taken only for children who have a valid social security number.

On November 1, the IRS announced the changes to the dollar limits on benefits and contributions under qualified retirement plans, as well as other items, for tax year 2019 [IRS Notice 2018-83, 11-1-18, 2019 Pension Plan Limits].

The IRS has released inflation-adjusted tables for 2019 reflecting any increases in the FSA deferral limit, foreign earned income exclusion, and excludable transportation fringes, among other changes [Rev. Proc. 2018-57, 11-15-18].

The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced on Thursday, October 11, 2018, that the 2019 social security wage base will be $132,900, which is an increase of $4,500 from $128,400 in 2018 (view the SSA Fact Sheet).

The IRS has announced the changes to the dollar limits on benefits and contributions under qualified retirement plans, as well as other items, for tax year 2019 [IRS Notice 2018-83, 11-1-18]. The notice is available on the APA website at https://www.americanpayroll.org/compliance/compliance-overview/annual-irs-annoucements.

Employers in the California counties of Lake, Mariposa, Mendocino, Napa, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Shasta, and Siskiyou directly affected by recent fires and those in San Bernardino County directly affected by a recent storm may request up to a 60-day extension of time from the California Employment Development Department (EDD) to file state payroll reports and/or deposit state payroll taxes without penalty or interest.

On April 26, the IRS announced transition relief for employers that sponsored Health Savings Account (HSA) qualified plans for their employees in 2018. The maximum HSA contribution limit for individuals with a family high-deductible health plan (HDHP) remains at the original 2018 level of $6,900 instead of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) level of $6,850 [Rev. Proc. 2018-27].

On July 5, during the IRS’s payroll industry call, Scott Pederson, a Program Analyst in the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Office of Electronic Services and Technology, provided an overview of some of the changes that SSA has made to its Business Services Online (BSO) suite of services for the 2019 filing season.

As of August 31, 2018, employers should be using only the revised version of the standard child support withholding order, Income Withholding for Support(IWO), with an expiration date of August 31, 2020. The form is required to be used in all child support cases.

APA’s July 2018 edition of Compliance TV covers the IRS’s release of a draft of the 2019 Form W-4, news on a potential increase on E-filing returns, and the announcement that New Jersey will now require paid sick leave.