August | Volume #97
The
Division’s counselors are a valuable resource to both employees and
employers. Our field counselors have prepared their schedules for the
2013-2014 travel season. The “official” travel season begins in early
September and continues on through May. Field counselors try to visit as
many employers as economically and physically possible. Their goal is to
educate PERS and TRS members about the benefits provided to them by you, the
employer.
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Counselors make the following services available in the communities they
visit:
Seminars for large groups, job-site visits,
small group meetings, and individual counseling sessions.
Seminars include information on:
- Saving for the future
- Disability benefits
- Survivor benefits for active employees
- Retirement and survivor benefits for employees
nearing retirement
-
The AlaskaCare health plans for retirees and
active State employees
Counselors
also provide services to you, the employer, including:
- Training on benefits
- In-service training
- Classification of employees
-
Amending participation agreements and other issues
To make visits as beneficial as possible to all involved, counselors need
your cooperation in the following ways:
- Assist with appointment set-up for individual
counseling, arrange group or job site meetings, and notify employees of dates
counselors will be available at your location
-
Ask your employees to prepare for counselor
visits by accessing their individual account information at MyRnB
- Work with counselors to ensure that new
employees in the Defined Contribution Retirement (DCR) Plan have adequate
knowledge of their benefits and pre-arrange on-site introductory seminars for
these members
If it is not possible for a counselor to physically visit a
community, a counselor can provide seminars, group meetings and individual
counseling via teleconference, videoconference, and the Internet.
If
you have any questions regarding counselors and the services they can provide,
please contact the counselor for your area.
Remember,
you, as the employer, fund benefit education. Please make sure you do
everything possible to ensure your employees take advantage of counselor visits. Work with your regional counselor to maximize the time they will spend with
you.
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Patricia.Lightholder@ssa.gov Patty is available to answer questions concerning federal reporting
including questions about Form W2 and Form 1099 corrections.
Gary.E.Petersen@irs.gov Gary is
available to provide direction about specific questions and concerns, such as
the reporting of independent contractor vs employee situations and taxability
of fringe benefits.
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What can a government entity expect during a compliance
check or an examination conducted by FSLG?
With the FSLG
Examination Process resources page, you can find information regarding:
- Adequate record keeping
-
Disclosure constraints on the IRS
-
Consent by government entities authorizing the
IRS to disclose tax information to third parties
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The
IRS Video Portal provides webinars on a variety of tax topics. Each recording is approximately one hour in
length.
Recommended Audio Presentations
- ACA Provisions: What You Need to Know (April 30,
2012)
- Unique Employment Tax Classification issues in
Government Entities (September 5, 2012)
- Requirements for Furnishing Form 1099-G
Electronically (September 11, 2012)
Recommended Webinars
- Avoiding Information Reporting Problems for
Government Entities (September 20, 2012)
- Social Security Section 218 Agreements and
Government Entity Restructuring (August 8, 2012)
-
Payments Made to Foreign Persons: A Basic
Overview for Government Entities (May 12, 2011)
- Section 218 Tools, Tips and Compliance for
Government Entities (January 27, 2011)
- Taxability of Certain Fringe Benefits for State
and Local Governments gust 25, 2010)
-
1099 MISC Filing Requirements for State &
Local Governments Webinar (March 30, 2010)
For information about upcoming live presentations, see the FSLG
Web site.
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Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) Matching is part of a suite
of internet-based, pre-filing e-services allowing “authorized payers” the
opportunity to match 1099 payee information against IRS records prior to filing
information returns. (An authorized payer is one who has filed forms 1099-B,
1099-DIV, 1099-INT, 1099-K, 1099-MISC, 1099-OID, or 1099-PATR with the IRS in
at least one of the two past tax years.)
Matching requests may be
submitted by one of the following two methods:
Interactive
TIN Matching
- Accepts up to 25 payee TIN/Name combinations
on-screen
Bulk TIN
Matching
-
Allows up to 100,000 payee TIN/Name combinations
to be matched via a text file submission.
Both methods will:
-
Match the payee name and TIN with IRS records;
- Decrease backup withholding and penalty notices;
and
- Reduce the error rate in TIN validation.
Please see Pub
2108-A, Online Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) Matching Program for
more information.
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