The “Payroll Tax Cut” began on September 1, 2020. Yes, another program to try to help stimulate the economy.
Who does this affect? What does it mean? How does it affect you? What are my financial coach recommendations/opinions? Who does this affect? This deferral program only affects employed people earning less than $4,000 in a two week pay period, or less than about $100,000 per year. If you are unemployed or retired, OR if your employer chooses not to participate, you don’t need to worry about it. You can stop reading (unless you’re curious about what may happen to everyone else). If you are self-employed, it’s unclear if you are able to participate in the program. What does it mean? President Trump, in an effort to stimulate the economy and to assist those who have been hit the hardest during our nation’s battle with COVID-19, sent a memorandum to the Secretary of the Treasury. In this memo, President Trump writes, “The Secretary of the Treasury is hereby directed to use his authority pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 7508A to defer the withholding, deposit, and payment of the tax imposed by 26 U.S.C. 3101(a)...” This tax deferral will be in effect from September 1, 2020-December 31, 2020. During this time, tax for social security may not be deducted from payroll checks. How does it affect you? If your employer decides to participate, you will see a slight increase in your paycheck for the next four months, but don’t get too excited yet. After December 31, 2020, you will see a decrease in your checks. The withholding will be double for social security for four months to make up for the deferred payments. President Trump’s memorandum does also ask the Secretary to “explore avenues, including legislation, to eliminate the obligation to pay the taxes deferred pursuant to the implementation of this memorandum.” Which means that there may be some legislation enacted to waive the payment of those deferred taxes, so you and your employer may not be on the hook for them later. What are my recommendations? Save. Save. Save. Save that extra money in your paycheck over the next four months. You may need it to cover expenses January-April 2021. If the legislation goes through to waive the payment of those deferred taxes, you’ll be sitting pretty on some saved cash for future emergencies. What’s my opinion? This “tax cut” or “tax holiday,” as some people are calling it, is not a cut. It is a deferral of tax payments. Those taxes will still come due as usual and will need to be taken out of your paycheck next year to allow your employer to make the payment. I can see this being a good thing for people who could use some extra cash during the holidays, but only if they can waive the tax before they start deducting everyone’s paychecks. If (and that’s a big IF) they can find a way to waive the tax altogether, yay! more money for all those affected. Link to memorandum: https://www.whitehouse.gov/.../memorandum-deferring.../
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