 FEBRUARY 2018 | VOLUME #150
 2018 is the year for our biennial employer training
conference customarily held in Juneau during the month of October.
The DRB would like employer input on training topics
employers wish to see presented at the conference.
To
review the topics at the 2016 EmCon, click here
If you have specific areas of interest, please email Kathy
Lea, Chief Pension Officer at kathy.lea@alaska.gov
During 2018 the DRB will be working on updating the Employer
Manual for both the PERS and TRS to include greater guidance for employer
representatives in relation to issues arising in audits and other information
needed by employers for more accurate administration of the PERS and TRS
Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution Plans at the employer level.
Employer volunteers are needed to review the current manual
and make recommendations for improvements. If you are interested in
participating in this project, please contact Benefit Education and Counseling
Manager Roberto Aceveda at roberto.aceveda@alaska.gov.
In January 2018, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released
updated tax withholding tables based on tax reform legislation enacted December 22, 2017, the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act”. The
updated tax withholding tables are now available at https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/n1036.pdf. Employers are encouraged to begin using the
updated withholding tables no later than February 15, 2018.
The updated withholding tables are designed to work with the
current Form W-4 “Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate” that employees
already have on file.
The IRS is revising Form W-4 and will issue updated
forms soon. The IRS is also
working on the tax withholding calculator on its website to reflect additional
changes in the new law, such as changes in itemized deductions, increases in
the child tax credit, the new dependent credit, and repeal of dependent
exemptions. Employers will be notified as soon as the updated tax withholding
calculator is available. Employers are encouraged to continue to use the 2017 Form W4 until
the updated forms are out or finalized.
The IRS will provide available information on its website
about the new tax withholding tables to help educate employers and employees to
avoid too much or too little withholding.
Additional information and FAQs about the new tax withholding
tables based on the tax
reform legislation is available at https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-withholding-tables-frequently-asked-questions.
The Federal Insurance
Contributions Act (FICA) is a U.S. law that created a payroll tax requiring a
deduction from employee paychecks as well as matching employer contributions.
Withheld FICA amounts go toward the funding the of the Social Security
and the Medicare programs.
The Social Security Amendments of
1967, with an effective date of January 1, 1968, stated that services performed
by an individual temporarily hired to serve as an employee on the basis
that a condition of emergency exists are mandatorily excluded from FICA tax
withholding.
The eligibility for FICA
exemption under the temporary emergency worker exclusion is contingent upon the
following key factors:
- There
must be an employee-employer relationship,
- the
employment relationship must be established on a temporary basis, and
- employment
must be in case of fire, storm, snow, earthquake, flood, or similar
emergency. In addition to the nature of the employment based on an
emergency, the position itself must be of an emergency nature i.e., lifesaving
or life protecting services.
For additional information on this exclusion, please see the
Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Emergency Worker Exclusion Guide in the
SSA Program Operating Manual System, Section SL 15005.010 (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms/images/poms19/19150/G-SL_15005.010.pdf).
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