In a last minute decision, Congress agreed to extend the payroll tax reduction for the first two months of 2012. Their will probably be some talk into extending this payroll tax reduction, since I doubt they will lower the FHA mortgage insurance rate hike used to offset the payroll tax reduction.
Currently employers are taking 4.2% out of the medicare portion of the employees pay. If nothing is extended then the new rate on March 1st will be back at 6.2%. The amount is determined by the employees pay date, so even if the pay period ends on February 29, 2012, but the paydate is in March; the 6.2% amount will need to be deducted.
The Social Security tax is capped at $110,100, meaning neither the employee or the employer will pay any more social security tax for each employee that has earned over this amount. The government has also accounted for high earners though. For employees that have made the 2-month wage base for social security ($18,350) they will have to pay the 2% higher rate immediately at that time. For the majority though, they will see a 2% reduction in their net pay or $20 per every $1,000 beginning in March. For the self-employed this also means your taxes will go back up to 12.4%.
If you would like an more detailed explanation on how this would effect your company please give us a call at 714-983-7758.
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