University payroll year end adjustments

Distribution of the 2008 W-2 Statements is planned for mid-January 2009.  For the University payroll system pay adjustments related to check cancellations and wage recoveries, including the pay issued for the pay period ending November 22, 2008 must be delivered to the Central Payroll Bureau by the EOB, Monday December 1, 2008 so the adjustments can be reflected in the original W-2 statements.

Agencies that have payroll adjustments that miss the December 1^st deadline or that have adjustments resulting from either the December 6^th or December 20, 2008 pay period endings, must inform the affected employees that their initial W-2 statements may be incorrect.  Those employees should be instructed to wait for receipt of a corrected W-2 statement (form W-2C), which will be processed and mailed at the end of February, before filing their Federal or State income tax returns.  Failure to alert these employees could result in employees having to file amended tax returns.

REGARDING LATE ADJUSTMENTS:
The Central Payroll Bureau cannot recover for agencies, the taxes related to adjustments, net recoveries, and check cancellations that miss the December 1st deadline.  For check cancellations, agencies must collect from the employee the total amount of federal and state taxes taken.  For late wage recoveries, agencies should collect the total (gross) wage amounts from their employees rather than the after-tax amounts.

REGARDING LATE REQUESTS FOR TAX REFUNDS:
Requests for refunds of taxes withheld due to employee or agency errors cannot be processed after December 1^st.  Employees can recover the tax overpayments when filing their 2008 tax returns.

THROUGHOUT THE YEAR:
Any wage adjustment requests including check cancellations that occur throughout the year must not be held.  These adjustment requests need to be delivered to the Central Payroll Bureau as soon as they are identified.  This ensures that the State remains in compliance with tax reporting mandates.

Thank you for your on-going support.  Please refer any questions to Helen Kane, Assistant Director, Rosina Romain, Accounting Manager, at (410)260-7964, or Cheryl Madigan, Accountant, at (410)260-7249.