The NASPP Blog

On Wednesday, the final version of the tax reform bill was passed in both the House and Senate. There were a few small changes to the bill at the last minute, but none of them impact what I wrote about on Tuesday. Since the bill changes individual tax rates, some of you may be wondering if you need to update your withholding rates on January 1.

It’s Still Just a Bill, Sitting There on Capital Hill

Hold your horses, there, buckaroo.  If you are old enough to remember Schoolhouse Rock’s I’m Just a Bill, you know that the passage of a bill by Congress doesn’t make legislation a law (unless the bill has already been vetoed by the president and two-thirds of Congress votes for it). The legislation still has to be signed by the president. Although Trump’s signature seems like a formality with the tax bill, it still has to happen (rules are rules); moreover, there is speculation that the bill won’t be signed until January (“It’s Unclear When Trump Will Actually Sign the Tax Bill,” Bloomberg.com).

Tax Withholding Rates for 2018

Most of the provisions in the bill, including the new individual tax rates, are effective as of January 1, 2018.  This does not mean that you have to rush to update tax withholding rates, however (especially if the bill hasn’t been signed into law as of January 1). The IRS has to issue guidance updating the tax rate tables and withholding procedures before you can withhold at the new rates. Of course, the IRS can’t issue any guidance until the bill becomes law (and if the looming government shutdown happens, this could impact how quickly the IRS can issue its guidance). The following announcement is posted to the IRS website:

The IRS is continuing to closely monitor the pending legislation in Congress, and we are taking the initial steps to prepare guidance on withholding for 2018. ‎We anticipate issuing the initial withholding guidance (Notice 1036) in January reflecting the new legislation, which would allow taxpayers to begin seeing the benefits of the change as early as February. The IRS will be working closely with the nation’s payroll and tax professional community during this process.

Your payroll provider should be a great resource when tax withholding rates change, since this will impact all compensation subject to withholding, not just stock compensation. An announcement on the ADP website notes that companies should continue to apply 2017 withholding rates until the IRS issues new guidance (“Federal Tax Reform Legislation May Be Imminent: Impact to 2018 Payroll Calculations May Be Delayed“)

Thanks to Marlene Zobayan for bring this concern to our attention.

Transactions on December 31, 2017

As a reminder, transactions that occur on December 31, 2017 are still occurring in the 2017 tax year, even if the FMV for these transactions isn’t known until market close on December 31 (market close does not mark the end of the tax year) and even if the transactions aren’t settled until 2018 or the shares acquired under the transactions aren’t issued until 2018. Most companies have to complete a special payroll run in the first week of 2018 to add late December transactions to Forms W-2.

With tax rates changing for 2018, it is especially important to include transactions in the correct tax year. Failure to do so could cause employees to underpay or overpay taxes due on the transaction and underpayments could be subject to penalties. (Remember that even though the withholding rate may not change until February, withholding is only an estimate of employees’ tax liability. Their actual liability will be based on the rate in effect at the time of their transaction; any excess withholding will be refunded to them when they file their tax return.)

This is a good reason to avoid scheduling vesting dates for December 31; see the November-December 2016 NASPP Advisor for nine more reasons to avoid December 31.

– Barbara