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Payroll

Payroll management, processing, and compliance for businesses of all sizes

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Supplemental Wages in 2026: A Small Employer's Guide to 22% Withholding on Bonuses, Commissions, and Overtime

For 2026, the federal flat withholding rate on separately identified supplemental wages is 22%, with a mandatory 37% rate on amounts over $1 million. Learn when small employers may use the flat method versus the aggregate method for bonuses, commissions, and overtime, why Social Security, Medicare, and FUTA still apply, how deposit timing and Form 941 fit in, and how to track W-2 box 12 code TT for qualified overtime.

mike

payrolltax-compliancesmall-business

Working Condition Fringe Benefits: How to Make Job Tools, Software, and Education Tax-Free in 2026

Under IRC Section 132(d), employers can exclude job tools, software, and job-related education from employee wages as working condition fringe benefits when the cost would have been deductible if the employee paid it. This guide covers the deduction test, the substantiation rules for cash reimbursements, how Section 127's $5,250 educational assistance limit differs, and a bookkeeping workflow that keeps qualifying benefits out of taxable payroll.

mike

employee-benefitstaxpayroll

Connecticut Paid Leave Is 0.5% in 2026: How Employers Can Catch Over-Withholding and Reconcile CTPL

The Connecticut Paid Leave contribution rate is 0.5% of subject wages for 2026, capped at the $184,500 Social Security wage base — a maximum of $922.50 per employee per employer. This employer guide covers the quarterly filing calendar, a six-step payroll reconciliation, and how to correct doubled 1% deductions, overpayments, and duplicate remittances.

mike

payrollconnecticutwithholding

Employer Differential Wage Payments Credit: How to Track Reservist Pay and Claim Form 8932

The Section 45P credit equals 20% of up to $20,000 in differential wage payments per qualified employee—a maximum of $4,000 each—when an employer keeps paying civilian wages during active-duty military service over 30 days. Learn the 91-day employee test, how Form 8932 flows to Form 3800, why the payments skip Social Security and FUTA but not income-tax withholding, and a bookkeeping system that keeps the calculation auditable.

mike

tax-creditspayrollwithholding

The 2026 Employer Meal Deduction Cliff: How to Track Disallowed Cafeteria and Convenience-of-the-Employer Meal Costs

For amounts paid after December 31, 2025, section 274(o) cuts the employer deduction for qualifying employer-operated eating facilities and convenience-of-the-employer meals from 50% to zero — even when the meal stays tax-free to the employee. This guide maps which meal costs land at 0%, 50%, or 100%, and lays out a chart-of-accounts and month-end workflow that keeps the tax adjustments defensible.

mike

tax-deductionstax-compliancebookkeeping

EU Platform Work Directive Deadline: What US Businesses Hiring European Freelancers Must Do Before December 2, 2026

The EU Platform Work Directive (2024/2831) must become national law in all member states by December 2, 2026, creating a rebuttable presumption that platform workers are employees. US businesses hiring EU-based freelancers through digital platforms face reclassification risk, algorithmic transparency duties, and new data-processing bans — this guide covers the six pillars, a 10-month compliance playbook, and the bookkeeping changes to make now.

mike

compliancefreelanceindependent-contractor

The Modern Worker Empowerment Act Explained: Would H.R. 1319 Bring Back the Common-Law Test for Independent Contractors?

H.R. 1319, the Modern Worker Empowerment Act, would replace the DOL's six-factor economic reality test with a single common-law standard for worker classification under both the FLSA and NLRA, centered on two prongs — control over the work and entrepreneurial opportunity — while explicitly excluding safety rules and project deadlines as evidence of control. Here's how it compares to the ABC test, what it wouldn't change, and the contractor bookkeeping checklist to run while the bill is pending.

mike

independent-contractorsmall-businesscompliance

When Your Subsidy Check Follows Attendance, Not Enrollment: A Daycare Owner's Guide to the 2026 CCDF Flexibility Rule

HHS's May 12, 2026 final rule restoring CCDF flexibility rescinded four 2024 mandates — the 7% co-payment cap, grants-or-contracts set-aside, prospective payment, and enrollment-based billing — effective July 13, 2026. Learn what attendance-based reimbursement means for daycare cash flow, how the 85% and five-day absence thresholds work, and which bookkeeping habits keep subsidy revenue predictable.

mike

childcarecompliancebookkeeping
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