2012 February Archive

Archive for February, 2012

Department of Labor Releases Final Rules on H-2B Visa Employment

Posted on: February 29th, 2012 by Ryan Ball No Comments

Many golf courses utilize the H-2B worker program to fill jobs that otherwise would not be filled for temporary employment. The rules governing the H-2B program have been changes due to several bad actors taking advantage of the program to avoid hiring higher paid American workers for similar employment. On February 21, 2012, the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration and Wage and Hour Division issued a Final Rule on the H-2B program that updates regulations governing the certification of employment of temporary or seasonal non-agricultural nonimmigrant workers and the enforcement of the obligations applicable to employers under the H-2B program.

The final rule changes the process by which employers obtain a temporary labor certification from the Department for use in petitioning the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to employ a nonimmigrant worker in H-2B status. The final rule also introduces new regulations designed to increase worker protections for both U.S. and foreign workers.

Key changes to the administration of the program include:

- Creates a national electronic job registry for all H-2B job orders to improve U.S. worker access to these temporary jobs.

- Enhances recruitment of U.S. workers from across the country

- Increases the amount of time for which U.S. workers must be recruited and hired

- Requires the rehiring of former employees when available.

The Final Rule is effective April 23, 2012. Click here for more information concerning key changes from the 2008 policy to the current rule changes.

Tax Season Cometh…

Posted on: February 15th, 2012 by Ryan Ball No Comments

This time of year club and restaurant owners find themselves asking their accountant questions on an assortment of tax related questions for employees, specifically, tipped employees. Below, the National Restaurant Association has put together a nice summary of several tipped-employee tax related questions and answers.

• Many restaurateurs are required to file tip-reporting data with the IRS. If you operate a business where food and beverages are served for on-site consumption and tipping is customary, and you employed more than 10 workers whose combined hours exceeded 80 on a typical business day in the previous calendar year, you are required to file Form 8027 with the Internal Revenue Service for each food-and-beverage establishments. The Employer’s Annual Information Return of Tip Income and Allocated Tips is due Feb. 29 for employers who file the form on paper, or April 2 for employers who file the form electronically. Form 8027 requires employers to show gross receipts, charged tips and the amount of tips employees reported during the preceding year, among other data. Visit the IRS website to download the form and instructions.

• Restaurateurs might qualify for a federal income tax credit for the FICA payroll taxes they pay on certain employee tips. Employers are required to pay FICA payroll taxes, currently 7.65 percent, on all tip income that employees receive. The law allows employers to take a dollar-for-dollar federal income-tax credit for a portion of the FICA taxes they pay on certain employee tips. The so-called 45B credit, named for its place in the Internal Revenue Code, can yield significant savings for restaurateurs. Claim the credit by filing Form 8846 when you file your federal tax returns. The form, Credit for Employer Social Security and Medicare Taxes Paid on Certain Employee Tips, can be downloaded from the IRS website.

• It’s a good time to remind employees about what the law requires on tip reporting. Employees who receive $20 or more in tips in a month are required to report them to their employer at least once a month. Employees who haven’t reported and paid taxes on their tips throughout the year can declare and pay taxes on those tips at tax time. However, they could face penalties for having failed to report income the way the law requires. The National Restaurant Association sells a Tip Reporting Education Kit that includes an employer guide, employee brochures, posters and other materials to help operators convey the message to employees about how to report tips correctly.

IRS Backtracks on 1099-K Reporting Requirement

Posted on: February 14th, 2012 by Ryan Ball No Comments

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has decided to pull the plug on a proposed requirement forcing businesses to report total receipts on their business income tax forms with the amounts that third parties, such as credit card companies or Pay Pal, report paying to merchants to reconcile merchant-card transactions.

The IRS’s original proposal, slated to take effect December 1st, 2011, would have required businesses accepting credit cards or other third-party payments, to reconcile the gross receipts they report on their tax returns with the totals that third-party payers report to them using a new 1099-K information-reporting form.

After business groups repeatedly approached the IRS on the feasibility of the new requirement and the sheer volume of increased paperwork that would be involved in this new reporting, IRS delayed the proposed date of implementation by one year to December 31st, 2012, then removed the program altogether earlier this month. MORE

Several members of congress are working to ensure the IRS does not attempt to resurrect this proposal in future years. Earlier this month, Senate Finance Committee members John Thune (R-S.D.) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) introduced a Senate bill, after Reps. Aaron Schrock (R-Ill.) and Bobby Schilling (R-Ill.) introduced the same bill in the House.

GCSAA Releases 2012 Legislative/Regulatory Priorities

Posted on: February 2nd, 2012 by Ryan Ball No Comments

The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America recently released their legislative and regulatory priorities for 2012. The priorities range from issues relating to the Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, new fertilizer and pesticide regulations, immigration requirements (H-2B Visa), watershed management issues and the overall promotion of the value golf provides to America in terms of economic impact, job creation, etc.

Over the next several weeks, VGM Club Government Relations will examine these topics, and others, indept; detailing the current legislative/regulatory landscape and likelihood of movement on key issues affecting the golf industry and Club members across the country. For more information on the GCSAA release, click here.

Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA) Offset Reduction on 2011 Returns

Posted on: February 1st, 2012 by Ryan Ball No Comments

Employers that operate in states that borrowed funds from the federal government to supplement their state unemployment benefits during the recession, but which have not yet returned the funds, will see a increased tax bills this year.

Employers typically pay a 6 percent federal unemployment tax (FUTA) on employee wages up to $7,000. Employers are then able to offset the 6 percent federal tax with a 5.4 percent credit for state unemployment taxes paid. However, employers will see this credit typically used to offset their federal unemployment tax collections reduced from 5.4% to 5.1% on their 2011 tax returns, if their state has not yet repaid borrowed federal funds, according to a newly released bulletin from the IRS.

The IRS released a bulletin last month listing the 21 “credit reduction” states. These “credit reduction” states are listed below; employers in most of these states will be limited to a 5.1 percent credit against FUTA taxes for 2011.

States	Reduction Rate
Arkansas	.003
California	.003
Connecticut	.003
Florida	.003
Georgia	.003
Illinois	.003
Indiana	.006
Kentucky	.003
Michigan	.009
Minnesota	.003
Missouri	.003
Nevada	.003
New Jersey	.003
New York	.003
North Carolina	.003
Ohio	.003
Pennsylvania	.003
Rhode Island	.003
Virginia	.003
Virgin Islands	.003
Wisconsin	.003

Employers in these states must use the Schedule A (Form 940) (PDF) to compute the credit reduction and attach the Schedule A to their Form 940. More information on the credit reduction, including an example on how to calculate the credit reduction is on the Schedule A (Form 940) and also in the Instructions for Form 940 (PDF).