Payroll Tax

Payroll Tax Deferral Begins Sept. 1, 2020, Many Employers Opting Out

On August 8, 2020, President Trump issued an executive memorandum (that action was not technically an executive order but is referred to in this article as an “order”) authorizing certain employees to defer Social Security withholding from their payroll checks (6.2%) beginning September 1, 2020, and through the end of the calendar year, with the deferred taxes being due in 2021. The President does not have the legal authority to unilaterally forgive taxes, so the order directed the Department of the Treasury (referred to in this article as the IRS) to “explore avenues, including legislation” to forgive the deferred taxes.