1

President ’s Corner by Melanie Kelly

Volume 9, issue 3

The Payroll Tide 3rd & 4th Quarters 2015

Inside this issue::

President's

Message

1

Government

Update

2-4

Health Care

Coverage

5

June Sponsorship

and VA State Con-

ference VanPool

6

Birthday’s

Daylight Savings

7

VA State Payroll

Week and APA

Membership Ben-

efits

8

Meeting Sponsor-

ship and Bloom-

berg BNA invita-

tion

9

End of Year Sur-

vival Kits

10

Professional

Development

11

Community

Service & Prize

Winners

12

Here we go again - another Year –End……I can’t believe my

2nd year as your President is over. I want to again thank my board

for a job well done and I look forward to 2016.

We held elections at our November meeting and I was elected

to stay on as President. With that said we still need fresh faces to fill some of our

vacant slots.

I want to thank Terrie Weston for stepping up and filling our community

chair position. We helped some very worthy charities this past year. We also

still need a speaker chair to find individuals or groups with useful information

that we as HR and payroll professionals can use to stay abreast of the latest up-

dates and rules. The board met in October and started talking about speakers and

presenters for 2016, but if there is something you would like to see we need to

know so we can provide useful information to all our members.

Please remember to renew your membership for 2016 by January 31st and if

you know anyone that would like to join please tell them about our chapter and if

they need information any one of the board members can help to answer ques-

tions.

Verlie Medford has retired from Old Point National Bank, Congratulations

Verlie! Melinee Cody will be our Vice President in 2016.

I hope everyone has a smooth year end, with all in balance no errors and not

too many W-2c’s. Good Luck with your ACA filings, I am sure we will have

some fun conversations when we return in February.

Finally, I hope everyone has a Happy Holiday Season, take time to spend

time with family and friends. We are blessed! Melanie

2015 Board 13

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t Update Government Corner-News You Can Use

By: Melinee’ D. Cody, C.P.P.

Visit the HRAPA Government News website for more important legislation and regulation resources. To stay abreast on the

constant legislative and regulation changes you can subscribe to one or several of the Resource Material listed on the Govern-

ment News website.

Federal Updates

Social Security 2016 Wage Base to Remain $118,500

The Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI) taxable wage base for 2016 is $118,500, unchanged from 2015.

The maximum amount the employee must contribute in 2016 is 6.% if percent of the wage base or $7,347. The employers

match the employee amount.

For domestic employees the Social Security tax increase to $2,000 and increase to $1,700 for election workers.

There are no wage base limits for Medicare taxes. Employee normally assessed a rate of 1.45 percent; however employees are

accessed an additional 0.9 percent on wages above $200,000 paid during the year.

IRS Released Pension Plan Amounts for 2016

In Oct the IRS announced the pension plans amounts, includes the deferral limit for Section 401(k), 403(b) type of plan and

other related programs, are unchanged for 2016: - Employees who participate in 401(k), 403(b), most 457 plans and federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan maximum

limit is $18,000

- Catch-up amount for employees 50 and over who participate in the 401(k), 403(b), most 457 plans and federal

govement’s Thrift Savings Plan maximum limit is $6,000

- The limit of IRA annual contribution is $5,500

- Catch-up amount for IRA for employees 50 and over is $1,000

- Employees who participate in 415(c)(1)(A) is $53,000

- Highly compensated employee under Section 414(q)(1)(B) salary threshold amount is $120,0

- Key employee in top heavy plan under I.R.C. Section 416(i)(1)(A)(l) salary threshold is $170,000

- Qualified Plan compensation general annual limit is $265,000

IRS announced Inflation Adjustments: The IRS said, the maximum amount that can be excluded from an employee’s gross income for amounts paid or expenses in-

curred by an employer for adoption expenses increased to $13,460 for 2016

Other inflation-adjusted items for 2016 - Mass-transit passes and van pools used by an employee remains the same $130 and the monthly benefit exclusion

amount for qualified parking increased to $255

- Health flexible spending amount maximum dollar limitation remains the same $2,550

- The annual deductible for self-only coverage in a medical savings account increased to not less than $2,250, but no

more than $3,350. The maximum out-of- pocket expense for self-only coverage remains the same $4,450

- The annual deductible for family coverage in a medical savings account remains $4,450; the deductible cannot be more

than $6,700, up from $6,650. The out-of-pocket expense limit remains $8,150.

- The standard deduction for heads of household increases to $9,300, from $9,250. The other standard deduction amounts

for 2016 are unchanged: $6,300 for singles and married couples filing separate returns, and $12,600 for married couples

filing jointly.

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t Update Government Corner-News You Can Use

By: Melinee’ D. Cody, C.P.P.

The IRS released the 2015 Form 940 and Schedule A:

On Nov. 24, 2015, the 2015 Form 940, Employer's Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return, and the form's Sched-

ule A, Multi-State Employer and Credit Reduction Information. The instructions for Form 940 are to be released soon.

Schedule A, which is used to report additional tax owed because of federal unemployment tax credit reductions, reaffirmed the

2015 credit reduction percentages released Nov. 10 by the Labor Department.

The 2015 Schedule A indicates that employers in California, Ohio and the U.S. Virgin Islands are to be assessed a Federal Un-

employment Tax Act credit reduction of 1.5 percent that would increase federal unemployment tax costs for 2015 by up to

$105 for each employee. Connecticut employers are to have a credit reduction of 2.1 percent that would increase federal un-

employment tax costs for 2015 by up to $147 for each employee.

Schedule R (Form 940), Allocation Schedule for Aggregate Form 940 Filers, will be updated for 2015 soon.

The deadline for filing the 2015 Form 940 and its schedules is Feb. 1, 2016, which also is the deadline for paying additional

amounts owed because of 2015 credit reductions. Employers with sufficient computer systems may electronically file Form

940 and its schedules through the IRS Modernized e-File (MeF) system. MeF will soon replace the agency's legacy system as

the primary system for electronically filing the 940 series, which includes Forms 940, 941, 943, 944 and 945.

IRS released 2016 Federal Percentage Method Income Tax Withholding Tables

On December 8, 2015, the IRS released Notice 1036, early release Copies of the 2016 Percentage Method table for Income

Tax Withholding. You can obtain the Notice at the IRS website, https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/n1036.pdf.

View the pdf Notice to see the changes in the 2016 withholding allowance amounts.

Employers who employ Nonresident Aliens for 2016 will need to add additional withholding amounts from their wages. The

IRS also updated the adjustment for 2016.

Supplemental rates for 2016:

Flat rate remains the same. Supplemental wages up to and including $1 million is 25%

Mandatory flat rate: Supplemental wages over $1 million is 39.6%

Backup Withholding rate for 2016:

If the payee fails to provide a valid Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), then payers of the reportable payments must back-

up withhold 28% for federal income tax.

IRS Released the Form W-4 for 2016

The IRS has released the Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate, the 2016 Form W-4. It’s strongly recommended to

issue a new Form W-4 to each employee every year. The form is available on the IRS website, https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-

pdf/fw4.pdf.

IRS Released Forms W-2 and W-3

The IRS has released the Wage and Tax Statement, Form W-2 and, Transmittal of Wage and tax Statements, Form W-3 for

2016. the forms are available on the IRS website, https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw2.pdf and https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-

pdf/fw3.pdf.

Standard Business Mileage rate for 2016:

On December 17, 2015 the IRS announced the standard business mileage rate for mobile transportation or travel expenses is 54

cents a mile for 2016. The use of an vehicle as part of a move or medical care is 19 cents a mile. The charitable use of a vehi-

cle mileage rate remains the same 14 cents per mile.

4

t Update Government Corner-News You Can Use

By: Melinee’ D. Cody, C.P.P.

The maximum standard automobile cost that may be used in computing the allowance under a fixed-or variable-rate plan is

$28,000 for 2016. Automobiles, excluding trucks and vans, is $31,000. For trucks and vans the rate is $31,000.

Effective for 2017: Employers must file the employees 2016 W-2s early to SSA

On December 18, 2015 President Barack Obama signed a spending bill to include a requirement for employers to file Form W-

2 early help deter the growing problem of fraud. Employers are to file Copy A of the 2016 Form W-2 with the SSA by January

31, 2017, regardless of whether the form is filled in paper format or electronically. In previous years, employers had a month

grace period if they were filing electronically.

State Updates

Below is a chart that shows the state wage bases for 2016

2016 State Unemployment Wage base

State Wage base State Wage base

Alabama 8,000 Montana 30,500

Alaska 39,700 Nebraska 9,000

Arizona 7,000 Nevada 28,200

Arkansas 12,000 New Hampshire 14,000

California 7,000 New Jersey 32,600

Colorado 12,200 New York 10,700

Connecticut 15,000 North Carolina 22,300

Delaware 18,500 North Dakota 35,600

District of Columbia 9,000 Ohio 9,000

Florida 7,000 Oklahoma 17,500

Georgia 9,500 Oregon 36,900

Hawaii 42,200 Pennsylvania 9,500

Idaho 37,200 Puerto Rico 7,000

Illinois 12,960 Rhode Island **22,000

Indiana 9,500 South Carolina 14,000

Iowa 28,300 South Dakota 15,000

Kansas 14,000 Tennessee 8,000

Kentucky 10,200 Texas 9,000

Louisiana 7,700 Utah 32,200

Maine 12,000 Vermont 16,800

Maryland 8,500 Virgin Island 23,000

Massachusetts 15,000 Virginia 8,000

Michigan *9,500 Washington 44,000

Minnesota 31,000 West Virginia 12,000

Mississippi 14,000 Wisconsin 14,000

Missouri 13,000 Wyoming 25,500

New Mexico 24,100

*Michigan - The taxable wage base decreased to $9,000 for contributing employers that were not delinquent on UI payment effec-

tive third quarter of 2015. The reduction of the wage base will continue in 2016

**For employers that pay at the highest UI tax rate of 9.79%, the wage base is $23,500

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t Update Government Corner-News You Can Use

By: Melinee’ D. Cody, C.P.P.

This article was sent by IRS: Health Coverage Information Reporting Deadlines for

Applicable Large Employers are Approaching

Who Must Report? As a governmental, Tribal, tax-exempt or for-profit employer, if you are an applicable large employer you are sub-

ject to the Affordable Care Act information reporting requirements. These requirements apply to you whether or

not you offered health coverage to your employees.

You are an applicable large employer for 2015 if you had 50 or more full-time employees, including full-time

equivalent employees, in 2014.

What Must You Report? If you were an applicable large employer in 2015, you must file information returns with the IRS and provide state-

ments to each employee who was a full-time employee for at least one month of the year about health coverage you

offered or to show that you did not offer health coverage.

What Forms Must Be Used To Report?

Form 1094-C, Transmittal of Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage Information Return: used to report to the IRS summary information for each employer and to transmit Forms 1095-C to the IRS.

Form 1095-C, Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage: used to report required information to your employees and to report information about each employee to the IRS. What Are The Due Dates For Reporting?

Forms 1095-C must be provided to your employees by February 1, 2016.

Forms 1094-C and 1095-C are due to the IRS by February 29, 2016, if filing on paper, or March 31, 2016, if

filing electronically. More Information For more information, see our questions and answers about Reporting of Offers of Health Insurance Coverage by

Employers on IRS.gov/aca.

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June Meeting Sponsorship

Jackson Lewis is an employment law defense firm dedicated to representing management exclusively in the workplace law. With 800

attorneys practicing in 56 locations throughout the U.S., Jackson Lewis is included in the AmLaw 100 and Global 100 rankings of corpo-

rate law firms.

The Firm’s wide range of practice area specialists provides the resources to assist its corporate clients in every aspect of the employer/

employee relationship, including counseling and litigation. Jackson Lewis has one of the nation’s most active employment litigation prac-

tices, with a current caseload of over 6,500 litigation engagements and approximately 650 class-action matters.

Thomas M. Lucas

Managing Shareholder Jackson Lewis P.C.

Norfolk Office

500 E. Main Street, Suite 800

Norfolk, VA 23510

757.648.1424 | Direct

757.536.0000 | Cell

757.648.1418 | Fax

thomas.lucas@jacksonlewis.com

www.jacksonlewis.com

Hampton Road APA Chapter

Vanpool — “The Roanoke Hotel”

The 15th Annual Virginia Statewide Payroll Conference is four months away. The Hampton Roads

Chapter of APA has secured a 15 passenger van. Avoid all the traveling “Mayhem” and come join us

as we travel to the beautiful city of Roanoke. Save transportation fees and mileage expenses while you relax and enjoy

the view. The round trip fee is $45.00. In these tough economic times, this is truly a bargain.

Departure Trip-Wednesday

Canon Newport News

Time: 4pm

Return Trip- Friday

Time: 6pm

Mark your calendars. The Vanpool Registration is now available on the HRAPA website -

www.hrapa.com/van

Remember, registration is only $45.00!!

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August Tunisia Santos 9th Alicia Sutton 15th September Marcia Boomer 5th

Dawn Flora 10th Vivian Ashworth 27th Tracey Ruffner 27th October Doreen Hulick-Smith 1st November Cheri King - 9th Patty Nola - 9th

December Terri Weston - 4th Sharon Coombs-Baptiste - 17th Clariss Washington - 29th Kathleen Roberts - 31st Donna Stoffel - 31st

Birthday’s

We’re on the web

www.hrapa.com

Check out the

new and im-

proved

HRAPA website!

Daylight Savings Time Ends October 31st

Daylight Savings Time (DST) ends Sunday, October 31 at 2am, when clocks are

set back one hour throughout most of the U.S. Shift workers on duty at that

time will work one hour more than usual. These employees

must be paid for the extra hours, and the extra hour must be

counted for purposes of calculating the regular rate of pay

and overtime. DST is not observed in the states of Arizona

(other than inside the Navajo nation) and Hawaii, and in the

U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern

Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

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VA State Payroll Week

Congratulations to the Hampton Roads Chapter

of APA along with the 6 other participating Vir-

ginia & West Virgina local chapters for coming

in 3rd place for the Best Statewide or Regional

Meeting Award. The HRAPA chapter also re-

ceived recognition as a participant for the Chap-

ter of the Year. Great job for all who took part

in Virginia Statewide Payroll Conference and

HRAPA chapter to allow us to receive such hon-

ors. See Other Chapter recognition listed under

2015 Congress News. What will be in store for

us in 2016?

APA Membership Benefits

Join APA now or renew your membership and you'll receive three (3) Recertification Credit

Hours toward your FPC or CPP recertification. The RCHs are awarded upon completion of your

membership year.

Compliance Updates

Payroll Currently

Free Webinars and eBooks

Free ListServ where you can ask payroll related questions or answer them for others

What are you waiting for—join today. Log in to www.americanpayroll.org and sign up.

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A special invitation from Bloomberg BNA:

Join us at Inside Payroll

Wednesday, March 23rd—Arlington, VA 11:00am—4:00 pm

Hop in the car and join payroll professionals from across the country that are gathering for the Bloom-

berg BNA Inside Payroll Conference! A fantastic opportunity to explore issues impacting payroll, net-

work, learn about Payroll Library and socialize with the who’s who in the payroll community, including

BBNA Advisory Board Members, Barbara Youngman, CPP (APA’s current President); Martin Arm-

strong, CPP,DBA; Fred Basehore, CPP; Lois Fried, CPP; Charlotte Hodges, CPP and

Patrick McKenna, CPP.

Here’s what you can look forward to when you register for Inside Payroll :

Professional Speakers—Engage with thought leaders in the payroll community—each with

insight and advise into essential issues, from Affordable Care Act compliance to proposed

changes to overtime regulations.

Relevant Sessions—Best practice case studies from Bloomber BNA.

Technology Updates—Stay current with the latest tools and get a preview of new features

On the Payroll Library.

Product Demos—Take a tour of the Payroll Decision Support Network and International

Payroll Decision Support Network.

CE Credits—Earn 3 APA/RCH credits.

Go to http://about.bna.com/inside-payroll to register for this must-attend event.

September Meeting Sponsorship

Accountemps and Robert Half Inc. sponsored the September Meeting for our chapter in celebration of National Payroll

Week. They also provided the guest speakers for our meeting:

Lindo Gharib, Regional Manager, for Robert Half Inc. spoke on "Going the Extra Mile: Building a Service-Oriented Pay-

roll Department' and

Amy Holt, Robert Half Inc. Norfolk Branch Manager and Accountemps Division Director spoke on " Time Management: Time Is on Your Side As a Professional" I think we can safely say that all of our membership gained valuable insight from both Amy and Lindo on both topics. They also provided door prizes for the event and encouraged participation throughout their presentations. Twenty one members attended the meeting.

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End of Year Survival Kits

At the November 2015 HRAPA breakfast meeting, Jackie Kronstain and Melanie

Kelly presented the attendees with Year-End Tasks and Reminders for a successful

Year-End. They also gave out these cute survival kits knowing how stressful year-

end can be especially for Payroll and Accounting staff.

End of Year Survival Kit

GUM: To help you stick to your goals

MINTS: To remind you to keep your cool

A PENNY: So you will never be broke

TISSUES: For the days you many need to cry

TYLENOL: When the job can be a headache

STRESS BALL: Because alcohol isn’t allowed at work

CHOCOLATE: Because it cures EVERYTHING

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Quitting Your Payroll Job Without Harming Your Career Most employees, at one stage or another in their career, have thought of quitting a job. Perhaps it’s to seek career

advancement and a better salary, or to get away from a toxic boss. If and when that moment comes for you, it’s

the manner in which you resign that matters. According to a Robert Half survey, 86 percent of human resources

managers interviewed said the way an employee quits a job affects his or her future career prospects.

Word gets around. If you burn bridges at one company, it could sabotage your chances for a solid reference check.

Here are examples, from the same OfficeTeam survey, of flamboyant ways some employees have chosen to resign:

“An employee baked a cake with her resignation letter written on top.”

“A marching band accompanied one guy in his announcement.”

“The worker threw a brick through the window with the words ‘I quit’ written on it.”

“One woman created a music video to explain she was leaving.”

Others simply left without a word, while a few had their parents or spouse deliver the news, or announced it on

social media.

Even if you’re deeply frustrated at work, there’s no need for theatrics or vengeance when handing in your letter of

resignation. Here’s how to quit with class:

1. Time your exit Proper business etiquette is to give your manager at least two weeks’ notice. Ten business days is an appropriate

amount of time for your employer to manage the transition and possibly find a replacement.

2. Write a formal resignation While cakes and videos might make a splash, quitting does not require that much time and creativity. Give your

boss and HR department a formal letter thanking them for the career opportunity, and mention your last day on

the job. A few lines will do.

3. Maintain productivity This tip is key to maintaining your reputation. You may be on your way out, but there’s still work to be done.

Wrap up the projects you can, and bring your payroll tasks to a point where you can hand them off to colleagues

or your replacement. Make the transition as seamless and painless as possible.

There are many wrong ways to leave a job, but only one good way: by keeping it classy. Quitting with grace not

only helps you preserve important professional relationships, but protects your future payroll career.

Accountemps, a Robert Half company, is the world’s first and largest specialized staffing firm for temporary accounting, fi-

nance and bookkeeping professionals. Accountemps has more than 340 locations worldwide. More resources, including

online job search services and the Accountemps blog, can be found at accountemps.com.

# # #

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Community Service

At our August meeting, the HRAPA chapter will be hosting a Food Drive to support the Virginia Statewide Payroll Con-

ference charity service project "Feeding America Southwest Virginia. "

Their mission is to feed Southwest Virginia’s hungry through a network of partners and engage our region in the fight to

end hunger.

Feeding America Southwest Virginia has served the 26 counties and associated municipalities that make up Southwest Vir-

ginia for over three decades. As the leader in hunger relief in this region, FASWVA distributes more than 20 million pounds

of food annually to nearly 400 partner agency soup kitchens, rescue missions and food pantries.

Prize Winners

The ladies listed below are some of our winners from previous payroll meetings. Just an-other reason why you should be a member of the Hampton Roads American Payroll Associ-ation Chapter. Not only do you gain knowledge on leading payroll issues and get to network with some awesome people, you get a chance to win some cool prizes too. Sherry Rome - Community Service Winner Crystal Hicks - Door prize Crystal Owens - Free Meeting Registration Terri Weston - Chick-fi-A gift card Cynthia Johndrow - Chick-fi-A gift card Angelia Bailey - Olive Garden Gift Card

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2015 HRAPA BOARD

President: Melanie Kelly, CPP mkelly@suminet.com

President Elect:

Vice President: Verlie Medford vmedford@oldpoint.com

Treasurer: Jacqueline Kronstain, CPP jkronstain@cvi.canon.com

Secretary: Lisa Stevens lisa.stevens@checkeredflag.com

Membership: Cynthia Johndrow cynthia.johndrow@accountemps.com

NPW Chair: Terri Weston, FPC tweston@titanamerica.com

Community Service: Terri Weston, FPC tweston@titanamerica.com

Education: Michele Salak, CPP michele.salak@L-3Com.com

Newsletter: Michele Salak, CPP michele.salak@L-Com.com

Speaker Chair: Melinee Cody, CPP mcody@pensoft.com

Advisor: Melinee Cody, CPP mcody@pensoft.com

Web Master: Melinee Cody, CPP mcody@pensoft.com

Proclamations/Sponsor Chair: Stephanie Parker, CPP sparker@cits.canon.com

Consider serving in one of these vacant Board positions. Contact any one of the people above to volunteer.