Employee Payroll Tax Deferral September 2020 – December 2020

On August 8, 2020, a Memorandum from the President of the United States was issued, allowing U.S. employers the option to defer withholding and payment of an employee’s portion of the Social Security tax for employees with wages below $104,000 per year.  This tax deferral option is effective for the period September 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020, but the deferred amount would be a loan, and would have to be withheld from employees’ wages and repaid by May 1, 2021 to avoid penalties and interest.   Our view is that deferring taxes now, to be collected early next year, does not provide a meaningful benefit to our employees. Therefore the University has decided not to participate in this program.