Payroll Tax Cut -- New Withholding Details Now Available on IRS.gov

The Internal Revenue Service recently released a news release announcing the availability of instructions to help employers implement the 2011 cut in payroll taxes, along with new income-tax withholding tables that employers will use during 2011.

Employers should start using the new withholding tables and reducing the amount of Social Security tax withheld as soon as possible in 2011 but not later than Jan. 31, 2011. Notice 1036, released today, contains the percentage method income tax withholding tables, the lower Social Security withholding rate, and related information that most employers need to implement these changes. Publication 15, (Circular E), Employer’s Tax Guide, will contain the extensive wage bracket tables that some employers use; it will be posted on IRS.gov.