The Social Security Administration has started mailing educational correspondence to employers that submit Forms W-2 containing employee names and Social Security numbers that do not match SSA’s records. This letter is to provide employers with resources to help ensure accurate year-end reporting. Employers may also receive letters in 2019 if there are any name/SSN errors on W-2 reporting. The letters come directly to OMES. Agencies will be notified of any name/SSN errors on the report that applies to the agency.
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Along with the SSA letters discussed in the article above, IRS information reporting penalties may apply for failure to file and failure to furnish correct information returns. A penalty for failure to file correct information returns can be up to $260 per form, indexed annually. A penalty for failure to furnish a correct information return could also apply to the same error if an employer furnished an incorrect form to an employee and also failed to file a correct Form W-2. If both penalties are assessed, the amount could be as much as $520 per Form W-2. In addition, the penalty applies to the ACA reporting Form 1095-C. For one employee with an incorrect name/SSN combination who receives both a W-2 and a 1095-C, the total penalty could be as much as $1,040. IRS enforcement of accuracy related penalties is evolving and penalty assessment may be increasing.
OMES verifies, through the SSA website, employee name and SSN combinations in the HCM system several times throughout the year. Agencies with mismatched results are notified and are required to provide the necessary changes to ensure year-end reporting is correct. This process helps to ensure accurate reporting and reduces the risk of information reporting penalties.
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New or rehired employees eligible for the Pathfinder retirement plan should have a Coverage Begin Date starting the first day of the month following the month of employment. For example, the Coverage Begin Date should be May 1 for an employee that was hired/rehired on April 11. For additional information, please refer to the Oklahoma Administrative Code.
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The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspends the tax-free exclusion of qualified moving expenses paid to or on behalf of an employee by an employer. The suspension period is for tax years beginning Jan. 1, 2018, through Dec. 31, 2025.
Authorized moving expenses paid, directly or indirectly, to or for an employee will be taxable as wages and must be processed through the payroll system. This includes payments made with the P-card and those processed through accounts payable.
If paying the employee directly (through accounts payable) or through a third party for moving expenses, the agency must notify its payroll department of the amount paid. The amount must process through the payroll system as non-paying, taxable earnings so that the amount will be taxed and properly reported on the employee’s W-2. We recommend the amount be processed through payroll on the employee’s next paycheck. Delaying until the end of the year could cause a hardship for the employee, as well as issues with collecting the employee taxes if the employee has terminated employment.
For any amounts paid directly to the employee through the payroll system, taxes will be withheld from the gross amount and the employee will receive the net payment.
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Employee deferrals and employer contributions must be remitted to OPERS in a timely manner to ensure participant amounts are posted and transferred to the selected investment options within 10 business days of payday, end of payroll period or process date, whichever is later.
OMES processes payments for SoonerSave amounts on confirmed payrolls on a weekly basis. This payment schedule far exceeds the requirements set forth in the plan and IRS rules. On many occasions, contributions are posted to employee accounts on or before the actual pay date. Occasionally, due to the payroll processing schedule of agencies, payments may post after the actual pay date.
Please remind employees that payments not showing on a quarterly statement may be due to the later processing of payroll and will show in the next quarterly statement. Employees are also encouraged to use the SoonerSave website to review and receive up-to-date information on their account.
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As a reminder to agencies, certain types of earnings are eligible for deferral to SoonerSave while others are not considered eligible compensation.
Annual leave payout is generally eligible for SoonerSave deferral on termination of employment. However, payments on severance from employment do not qualify as compensation for SoonerSave deferrals. Therefore, payments under voluntary buyouts (VOBO) and reductions in force (RIF) would be excluded from deferral consideration.
Only compensation from an agency that is attributable to services performed for the agency may be considered as earnings from which SoonerSave deferrals can be taken. This would include regular pay, overtime, shift differential and other similar payments based on employment. If an amount would have been paid had the employment continued, such as annual leave, then deferrals can be taken.
Please advise employees that changes in deferral amounts must be submitted to the SoonerSave administrator and approved before processing through payroll. For additional information, agency personnel should contact their SoonerSave coordinator or the SoonerSave administrative office at 800-733-9008 or 405-858-6781.
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40 O.S. § 165.3a, allows employers to provide employees the option of designating a beneficiary for wages and benefits payable upon an employee’s death. There is no requirement for an employer to allow employees to select beneficiaries, but agencies may want to consider adopting such a policy. Providing the option to employees relieves stress and anxiety after the death of the employee. Also, agencies would have clear guidance on who is to receive final wage payments and avoid any potential difficulties in determining who should receive the payment(s).
This statute does not include any longevity payment that may be due as of the date of death of an employee. 74 O.S. § 840-2.18, subsection H.2, authorizes any longevity payment to be paid to the decedent’s surviving spouse, or if there is no surviving spouse, to the decedent’s estate.
For more information or sample forms and instructions, please contact Jean Hayes at 405-522-6300, [email protected] or Lisa Raihl at 405-521-3258, [email protected].
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Agencies must complete Form DER, Deceased Employee Reporting when an employee dies and payments are made after the date of death. The form is on the OMES website under CAR Forms. Complete all forms and send to OMES CAR payroll, (attention Alicia Reel) as soon as possible after all payments have been processed.
Procedures for processing payroll after the death of an employee are available in the OMES Payroll Processing for Death of an Employee how-to document
NOTE: Remember to update the date of death on the HR Personal Data Record, update Job Data for a termination with the reason code ‘SO4’ (deceased), and terminate the employee’s direct deposit. Banks will return direct deposits for deceased customers. A return of an item will cause a delay to the individual receiving the payment.
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Agencies may, on occasion, receive a report generated from the Office of the State Treasurer’s current ACH application. OST’s current ACH application automatically updates bank routing numbers based on the latest table of Federal Reserve Bank routing numbers. This update allows the items to continue processing for payment. When an update is made, the Participant Old/New Routing Number report is generated listing the employee, the incorrect bank routing number and the correct bank routing number. This report is distributed to agencies to update employee banking information. These updates must be made so transactions will continue to process without interruption. This report is sent out by OMES to the contact listed for the Updated Banking Information report.
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Agencies must notify OMES CAR of any items that will affect the Oklahoma centralized child support payment. Items that could affect the amount to be paid include refunds to employees for amounts withheld in error and reversals of payroll warrants. If OMES is not notified and the centralized child support payment is processed, the agency will be responsible for contacting the Department of Human Services Child Support Division to attempt to get a refund. If the funds have already been disbursed to the recipient, the money might not be refunded back to the agency. Timely communication from agencies is critical in these situations.
Each Monday CAR runs the HCM process to report and make payment to the OCSS/Oklahoma Centralized Support Registry, PS Vendor ID 0000190715. The process is run for payments with dates from the second previous Saturday through the previous Friday. For example: paychecks with an issue date between 3/23/2019-3/29/3019 were processed to pay the child support withholdings on 4/01/2019. All payments going to the OCSS must be set up to use Vendor ID 0000190715. Payments to Vendor ID 0000000830 or Vendor ID 0000197419 for the OCSS are no longer allowed and will not be processed for centralized payment if used in error.
In PeopleSoft Financials, a journal entry is created to remove the funds from the agency’s 994 fund. The agency will see a debit to the 633190 account and a credit to 101000.
For questions, please contact Alicia Reel at 405-522-9479, [email protected] or Jean Hayes at 405-522-6300, [email protected].
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When an employee reimburses a payroll overpayment, please complete and submit the OMES Form 94P as soon as the reimbursement is made. Timely submission helps ensure corrections are reflected in the quarter in which they occurred for proper reporting and also helps in the full recovery of OPERS retirement amounts. If the retirement system is not aware of an overpayment and the pending overpayment refund request, payouts to former employees may be incorrect, resulting in a loss to the agency. In addition, retirement calculations may be incorrect if the overpayment is not reported timely.
Please do not provide copies of personal checks. The form allows the agency to enter the amount reimbursed. Additional backup data is not required.
The form requires the State EmplID be entered. This has been changed for the privacy and security of the employee. Please do not submit with the social security number or any other number.
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The HCM system correctly calculates taxes based on the current tax rates and an employee’s withholding certificates. Agencies should not override the taxes calculated. If the taxes appear to be incorrect, the employee's paycheck should be reviewed before continuing the payroll process. If the taxes prevent after-tax deductions from being withheld, the employee should be notified. Payment of items not withheld through payroll due to lack of net pay must be settled between the employee and the vendor.
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The first quarter of the 2019 tax year is now complete, and it is time for ALL STATE AGENCIES to run their Miscellaneous 1099 Tax Information Report which should include all transactions from Jan. 1, 2019, through March 31, 2019. The path for this report in PeopleSoft Financials is: Accounts Payable, Reports, Payments, Misc Tax Information Report.
This report has been changed in that you will now see both Name 1 and Name 2 to make sure the proper IRS name is listed. Also, please review the following on this report:
- NAME & TIN: Make sure that the Name and Tax ID number match the information on the vendor’s W-9. An additional name may need to be added so that it will match with the IRS. Only the Supplier Name prints on this report, but if you have an Additional Name it will be added in the vendor file and will print on the 1099.
- 1099 FLAGS: Please pay attention to the 1099 Flag where Y means Yes, the vendor should receive a 1099 and N means No, the vendor should not receive a 1099. A 1099 will not be printed if the 1099 Flag is N. A vendor does not need a 1099 if they are registered as a corporation, non-profit organization or government entity, (the exception to this is if the payment is for a legal or medical payment and they will receive a 1099).
- ADDRESS: The designated address for 1099 reporting is Address 1 in the vendor file. If the 1099 Flag is N, then new addresses will be added but Address 1 will not change. Otherwise, if Address 1 is not the address that should be on the 1099, please have the vendor submit a Vendor/Payee Form or W-9 requesting that the 1099 address be changed.
- TOTALS: Review all warrants processed with 1099 reportable account codes for each vendor and make sure all are accounted for. (Any warrant corrections need to be made at the agency level.)
Your corrections to this report should be sent to the Office of Management and Enterprise Services by April 30, 2019. You may send your corrections to the email address listed below or you may print the report, write in the corrections and send it in via interagency mail. If you have questions, please contact Beth Brox at 405-522-1099, or email [email protected] or Alicia Reel at 405-522-9479, or email [email protected].
OMES/CAR centrally pays Oklahoma child support for all state agencies on the Oracle/PeopleSoft HCM system. The timing of this process may result in a balance in the 994 class funding at the end of a month.
CAR runs the process to report and make payment to the OCSS/Oklahoma Centralized Support Registry, PS vendor ID 0000190715, every Monday. The process is run for payments with dates from the second previous Saturday through the previous Friday. For example; paychecks with an issue date between 3/23/2019 – 3/29/2019 were processed to pay child support withholdings on 4/1/2019.
In PeopleSoft Financials, a journal entry is created to remove the funds from the agency’s 994 fund. Journal entries created by CAR will be Allocation Journals (ALO) and begin with ‘000’. The agency will see a debit to the 633190 account and a credit to 101000. The timing of these payments may affect an agency’s reconciliation to the Summary of Receipts and Disbursements (SRD) ending cash balance as well as the available cash shown on the Allotment Budget and Available Cash (ABC) report. Agencies may have amounts withheld in one month that are not paid until the next month. Please keep this in mind when reconciling with the SRD and ABC reports. Agencies can run the following queries to assist with the reconciliation:
- Query OCP_PR_WH_ACCT_BAL_DETAIL
- Query OCP_PR_WH_ACCT_DETL_BY_PERIOD
Agency payroll personnel must notify CAR of any items that will affect the amount to be paid. Items that could affect the amount to be paid include refunds to employees for amounts withheld in error and reversals of payroll warrants. If CAR is not notified and payment is processed, the agency’s 994 fund will be out of balance. The agency will be responsible for contacting the Department of Human Services child support division and attempting to get a refund. If the funds have already been disbursed to the recipient, the money might not be refunded back to the agency. Timely communication from the agencies is critical in these situations.
For questions, please contact Alicia Reel at 405-522-9479, [email protected] or Jean Hayes at 405-522-6300, [email protected].
All P-card authority orders must be set up prior to the last day of the current fiscal year. Agencies without P-card AOs on July 1 will not be able to use their P-cards for any types of payments. A separate AO must be set up for IT-related purchases and requires an ePro requisition be submitted for IT approval. A list that includes all of the anticipated IT-related transactions must be attached to the ePro requisition. These requisitions should be completed in the month of April to allow adequate time for approval and completion of the AO prior to June 30, 2019. Questions should be directed to [email protected].
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