Form-a-palooza! IRS blitzes with a slew of much-needed Finance docs

As if your finance department wasn’t juggling enough paperwork right now! IRS has been on a form-generating blitz to update key documents for 2015 and beyond.

Are your staffers working off the most recent versions?

4 you need now

Take a look at the most recent updates from the Taxman to ensure your finance department is up-to-date:

Form W-9, Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification: You’ll have to look closely at this one — the form does look nearly identical to the one that’s been in play since August 2013. But there are a few small differences which will make it worth using.

The difference that should help your finance staffers the most: Some instructions have been rewritten to be clearer for folks filling out the forms. That should help you get new vendor Taxpayer ID Numbers even faster than before.

Download it at: www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf

Publication 15-B, Employer’s Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits. This is the benefits bible for Accounts Payable and Payroll – because it helps each department know when it has to get involved with an employee’s benefits.

The new updated version contains all the key numbers Finance needs for 2015, from the standard mileage rate (57.5 cents per mile) to the maximum amount employees can contribute to a health flexible spending account ($2,550).

Something new for this go-around: The scenarios where employees can now make mid-year election changes to their cafeteria plans for additional reasons, to allow for the purchase of a Health Insurance Marketplace plan.

Download it at: www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15b.pdf

Publication 15, (Circular E), Employer’s Tax Guide. Your payroll folks likely lean heavily on this IRS document. And the new version for 2015 contains some mission-critical updates, from the new taxable wage base to the percent method tables and wage bracket tables.

There are even a few unexpected changes in this tried-and-true publication this time.

For example, you probably wouldn’t expect to see anything on the Ebola virus. But it’s there – Circular E spells out that employers can set up leave-based donation programs to aid Ebola victims in Guinea, Liberia or Sierra Leone. If employees donate their vacation, sick or personal leave in exchange for your company making a charitable contribution, you wouldn’t include the amounts in income.

Download it at: www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15.pdf

Lastly, the newest version of Publication 15-A (www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15a.pdf) directs you to another form you need to use – and it’s a brand new one.

Form 8922, Third Party Sick Pay Recap. In the past, your company has had to include third-party sick pay recap information on Form W-2 in the past. No longer. Make sure Payroll understands that for wages paid in 2014 and beyond, you should use the new Form 8922, Third Party Sick Pay Recap. You’ll need it for the W-2 and 941 reconciliation process.

Download it at: www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8922.pdf