工资税递延困境

2020年8月8日，特朗普总统发布了一项 行政命令 要求推迟员工’2020年9月1日至2020年12月31日之间的工资税部分（仅适用6.2％的社会保障税）“Order”). At the time the President issued the 订购, he called on the Secretary of Treasury to “explore avenues”包括国会立法，“消除支付递延税款的义务”（即原谅金额）。国会尚未这样做。 

Since the release of the 订购, accounting firms and employers have been asking the Treasury Department for 指导 on implementation of this deferral. On August 28, 2020, four days before the deferral becomes effective, the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department released scant 指导 在此延期（“Guidance”). 

根据该指南的规定，湖北体彩网应对递延税款的递延和将来的征收负责。湖北体彩网有权在2020年9月1日至2020年12月31日之间支付薪金的日期中预扣雇员的FICA社会保障税部分。“Deferral Period”），但仍需要预扣和免除Medicare税的雇员部分。只有在双周支付期间收入低于$ 4,000阈值金额的员工才有资格在该支付期间进行递延。国税局（“IRS”) recognizes that the deferral may apply to an employee during some but not all pay periods in the 延期. The amounts deferred pursuant to the 指导 are to be withheld and remitted by the employer ratably from the affected employee’在2021年1月1日至2021年4月30日（“Repayment Period”）。 2021年4月30日之后，湖北体彩网将对未付的递延税款受到罚款和利息。

不幸的是，该指南遗留了许多重要问题。例如：

• 湖北体彩网可以完全选择不接受延期吗？大概答案是肯定的。该指南延迟了湖北体彩网’缴纳社会保障税的最后期限，但未强制要求湖北体彩网采用延期付款。此外，美国财政部长史蒂芬·姆努钦（Steven Mnuchin）表示，在8月中旬的一次采访中，对于湖北体彩网而言，延期是可选的。
• 如果湖北体彩网实施延期，员工可以选择不延期吗？
• 湖北体彩网可以做出哪些安排来从雇员那里收取工资中的递延税？
• What arrangements can an employer make to collect the deferred taxes from employees who are no longer on the payroll during the entirety of the 还款期 in 2021? The 指导 somewhat cryptically states that “如有必要，[湖北体彩网]可以安排从雇员那里收取总的[递延税]，”暗示可以从员工那里提取累计递延税款’如果州工资支付法律允许，请支付最终薪水。

此外，在星期五 国家金融中心, which handles payroll for more than 600,000 federal workers, said that it will begin deferring taxes for employees who are eligible for the deferral without giving them the option of opting out. Despite this signal from the federal government about its own interpretation of the 指导, most tax experts are advising employers against implementing the deferrals. Additionally, employers (and third-party payroll providers) have not had time to implement software changes to payroll systems required to handle this change in withholdings. Therefore, at this time, without any guarantee that the deferred amounts will be forgiven, and based on the burden that the 指导 places on the affected employers to collect the deferred amounts in the future, employers who implement the deferral may be liable to the 国税局 for such amounts.