Saturday, November 8, 2008

Federal Payroll Tax

The authority over federal payroll tax in the United States is the Internal Revenue Service (IRS that determines the percentage of payroll tax withheld from an employee's wages, the formalities to be fulfilled by an employer and any other issues relating to federal social security, Medicare and unemployment taxes.

Federal payroll tax withheld from an employee's wages and paid by the employer includes federal social security tax and federal Medicare taxes. This is a mandatory government extraction from your check on every payday. The federal payroll tax also includes the Federal Unemployment tax that has to be paid by the employer. Medicare and social security federal taxes have to be equally divided with the employer and employees. Social security is taxed at 6.2% currently and Medicare at 1.45% currently in the United States.

Every organization and every employer must report to the Internal Revenue Service for the federal payroll tax. As an employer, your obligations for federal payroll tax are many. The first step is to get an Employer Identification Number (EIN), by filling out form SS-4 and applying for it at the local office of the IRS. Each employee then needs to fill out form W-4 for the employer. This procedure has to be followed by both full time and part time employees in your organization. In case the employee has not submitted this form, taxes will be withheld from the wages of an employee without taking into consideration dependants. This is because the amount withheld is based on the marital status of the employee and the number of dependants. Once done, the federal payroll tax is calculated according to the current rates and submitted to the local IRS office.

More information on federal payroll taxes can be found at the IRS Publication 15, Circular E.



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Payroll Outsourcing Companies

Payroll outsourcing companies deal with outsourcing of payroll activities. They do the actual work of tallying hours and creating the paychecks for all the employees of a client. Payroll means a sequence of accounting transactions dealing with the process of paying employees for service provided, holding money from employees for payment of payroll taxes, insurance premiums, employee benefits, garnishments and other deductions. The payroll outsourcing companies provide the processing of non-core activities of a company. Payroll outsourcing companies usually have a group of experts, who can complete jobs quickly and efficiently, giving the management more time for development activities. Shifting the payroll burden to another firm means less work for in-house staff, eliminating the need for them to learn new, specialized duties.

Outsourcing companies undertake the burdensome responsibilities of administration, payroll record keeping, tax duties and claims, printing and delivering checks, and providing management reports. The experienced personnel in the outsourcing companies guarantee that your payroll files and details are accurate, prompt and professional. When there are problems regarding payroll activities the professionals in the outsourcing company can offer you reliable advice and rapid resolutions.

Signing up with a payroll outsourcing company saves time, resources and money for any small or big business establishment. The payroll outsourcing company will need to be given updated information once a week or once a month, depending on how often the employees are paid. An ideal payroll outsourcing company is one which is aware of all state and federal regulations. It should have credibility and sufficient facilities to handle the job undertaken.



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