Read this if you are a plan sponsor of employee benefit plans.
Employee Retention Credit (ERC)
There is still time to claim the Employee Retention Credit, if eligible. The due date for filing Form 941-X to claim the credit is generally three years from the date of the originally filed Form 941.
The ERC is a refundable payroll tax credit for wages paid and health coverage provided by an employer whose operations were either fully or partially suspended due to COVID-related governmental orders or that experienced a significant reduction in gross receipts.
The amount of the credit can be substantial. For 2020, the credit is 50% of the first $10,000 of qualified wages per employee for the qualifying period beginning as early as March 12, 2020, and ending December 31, 2020 (thus the max credit per employee is $5,000 in 2020). For 2021, the credit is 70% of the first $10,000 of qualified wages per employee, per qualifying quarter (thus the potential max credit is $21,000 per employee in 2021).
For 2021, employers with 500 or fewer full-time employees in 2019 may include all wages and health plan expenses as qualified wages. For 2020, employers with 100 or fewer full-time employees in 2019 may include all wages and health plan expenses as qualified wages while employers with more than 100 full-time employees in 2019 may only claim the credit for qualified wages paid to employees who did not provide services. For purposes of determining full-time employees, an employer only needs to include those that work 30 hours a week or 130 hours a month in the calculation. Part-time employees working less than this would not be considered in the employee count.
There is additional interplay between claiming the ERC and the wages used for PPP loan forgiveness that will need to be considered.
Student loan repayment programs
One of the benefits younger employees would like to receive from their employer is assistance with student loan repayments. A recent study indicated an employee would commit to working for an employer for at least five years if the employer assisted with student loan payments. Some employers have been providing such a benefit and, until 2020, any student loan payments made by the employer would have been considered taxable income.
Beginning in 2020 and through 2025, at least for now, employers are permitted to provide tax-free student loan repayment benefits to employees. In order to receive tax-free payments, such a plan must be in writing and must be offered to a non-discriminatory group of employees. In addition, the tax-free benefit must be limited to $5,250 per calendar year. Now may be the time to consider offering student loan repayment benefits to help retain and attract employees.
Automatic enrollment for employee deferrals in 401(k)/403(b) plan
Most employers offer an employer-sponsored retirement plan such as a 401(k) plan or 403(b) plan to their employees. However, the federal government and several state governments are concerned that employees are either not saving enough for retirement and/or do not have access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan. Some states are mandating the establishment of an employer-sponsored retirement plan, or mandatory participation in a state-sponsored multiple employer plan (MEP). Other states are mandating that employers who do not sponsor a 401(k) or 403(b) plan provide automatic employee payroll deductions into a state-sponsored Individual Retirement Account (IRA) type vehicle sponsored by the state. If you do not already sponsor a 401(k) or 403(b) plan you should confirm if your state has any requirements.
For those employers who do sponsor a 401(k) or 403(b) plan, you should consider implementing an automatic enrollment provision if you have not done so already. Automatic enrollment requires a certain percentage of an employee’s wages to be withheld and deposited into the 401(k) or 403(b) plan each pay period, unless the employee elects otherwise. While the current law does not require an employer to use automatic enrollment, there is pending legislation that would require an automatic enrollment provision in any new retirement plan. Even though existing plans would be grandfathered under the pending legislation, it may be worth implementing an automatic enrollment provision in the 401(k) or 403(b) plan to help and encourage employees to save for retirement.
If you have questions about any of these or other employee benefit topics, please contact our Employee Benefits Audit team. We're here to help.
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