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Official Notification of Employer Withholding Payment Frequency Change, Effective June 1:

Effective June 1, 2010, employers that withhold $20,000 or more annually from employee compensation will be required to remit withheld taxes to the department on a semiweekly basis. Under Act 48 of 2009, employers whose payday falls on a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday will be required to make a deposit of the tax the Wednesday following the payday; if the payday falls on a Saturday, Sunday, Monday or Tuesday, the deposit is due the following Friday. Employers that do not have a payday within a withholding period will not be required to make a deposit. A schedule of the 2010 period ending and administrative due dates, REV-1716, is available on the department's website at:
http://www.revenue.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/employer_withholding_tax/14705.

All employers required to change to semiweekly payment schedules should register to file and make deposits online using e-TIDES. If you are not registered for e-TIDES, do so at www.etides.state.pa.us.  Using this free electronic filing method will reduce filing errors. Employers that use the "Multi Import/File Upload" feature in e-TIDES must update the file format to accommodate the semiweekly filing requirements.

If your business utilizes a payroll service provider, you must provide your service provider a copy of this letter.

Special Filing Instructions for PA W-3 Quarterly Reconciliation Returns for the Second Quarter, 2010

Semimonthly:   If the previous payment frequency was semimonthly, all withheld taxes for pay dates June 1-15 must be reported on Line 5, period ending June 15; pay dates June 16-30 must be reported on Line 6, period ending June 30.

Monthly:  If the previous payment frequency was monthly, all withheld taxes for pay dates June 1-30 must be reported on Line 3, period ending June 30. 

Quarterly:  If the previous payment frequency was quarterly, all withheld taxes for pay dates June 1-30 must be reported on Line 2, Total PA Withholding Tax.

These special reporting instructions are for second quarter, 2010 PA W-3 Quarterly Reconciliation returns only. The new electronic PA W-3 form for the semiweekly payment frequency will be available on e-TIDES and TeleFile starting with the third quarter, 2010 PA W-3 return.

For additional information about the employer withholding payment frequency change, or to obtain a schedule of payment due dates, visit www.revenue.state.pa.us or call 717-787-1064.  Feel free to contact your Alpern Rosenthal representative as well.

Learn about other recent tax law and legislation changes that could be affecting you:
http://www.alpern.com/legislative-updates.php