James Paille

As you've probably heard, the Obama Administration recently rolled out its latest budget proposal. While much of it won't affect the payroll business, there are several items that will raise eyebrows in the payroll industry if passed as proposed. I've put together a synopsis of some of the items that would impact payroll.

You've probably heard about President Obama's push to increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour. It's the latest of several attempts to increase the federal minimum wage. In addition, several states are following suit with minimum wage legislation of their own. With that in mind, I think now is a good time for a rundown of state legislation.

On February 11, the Treasury Department rolled out a new round of changes to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The changes will affect medium and large employers, as well as some teachers and volunteer workers. Here are the highlights:

The Supreme Court's rejection of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was big news in 2013. And in 2014, it has big payroll tax implications for employers who offer cafeteria benefits to same-sex spouses.

Now is a great time to sort out any anomalies that could complicate year-end and W-2 processing. And two of the most common are overpayments and repayments.

You probably know that non-exempt employees are covered under FLSA, which imposes requirements for overtime and other aspects of employment. Exempt employees, on the other hand, are not subject to FLSA.

The IRS surprised employers a few weeks back with a rule change that allows flexible spending account participants to roll over up to $500 of their unused account balances into the next year.

Having to run payroll for foreign nationals seems like a remote possibility for most payroll service providers. And it's true that only 14% of Thomson Reuters tax and accounting software users who process payroll reported paying foreign nationals in a recent survey.

Your payroll clients are already paying FUTA, a federal tax levied on employers that are covered by their state's unemployment insurance program. Depending on where they're located, your clients may face an increase in FUTA when they file their 2013 taxes.