Published September 15, 2020
A Presidential Executive order related to the postponement of Social Security tax withholding for qualified employees for the period of September 1, 2020– December 31, 2020 was issued.
On August 8, a Presidential Executive order related to the postponement of Social Security tax withholding for qualified employees for the period of September 1, 2020– December 31, 2020 was issued. The order was the latest attempt to provide relief for workers during COVID 19. This order is optional to employers and the Research Foundation for SUNY has decided tonot participate after an extensive review.
On August 28, the IRS released guidance on the implementation of this tax postponement. The guidance states that the postponed taxes not withheld for the period September 1, 2020– December 31, 2020 must be withheld and paid to the government from January 1, 2021- April 30, 2021. Failure to do so by the end of April would result in unpaid / late tax payments and penalties.
As this is a postponement of withholding and not a tax break from owing Social Security, the Research Foundation decided it is in the employee’s best interest to continue to withhold the social security taxes each pay period. This will keep employees from having double the Social Security tax withheld from paychecks starting in January through April 2021.
At this time the NYS Office for the State Comptroller is not deferring Social Security taxes. They are awaiting a decision regarding the Payroll Tax Rollback from their Legal Department. Once a decision has been made, and they have received additional guidance from the IRS, they will notify agencies. This information will then be shared with campus.
Robert Palmer
Director
Research Foundation (RF) Human Resources
Phone: 716-645-4476
Email: rp9@buffalo.edu
Dana Moore
Manager
State Payroll and Appointment Processing
Phone: 716-645-8157
Email: dlmoore@buffalo.edu